A growing family
by garciprent
Summary: Follow on to "Spot watch". Watch Emily & Aaron cope as their family gets a little bigger.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Author's Note: This is a follow on to Spotwatch & I'm gonna make it a multi-chapter. If you haven't read that one it's only short so it won't take long. It shouldn't take much to figure out what's going on though. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated as they would help put me right if I'm writing rubbish! If you think my stories are rubbish & don't tell me, then just expect more rubbish :) If you let me know though I can do something about it.**

**Anyway, enough babbling! I don't own Criminal Minds.**

Aaron Hotchner eased quietly out of bed so as not to disturb Emily. He'd woken before his alarm & therefore managed to avoid waking his wife. They'd enjoyed a lovely weekend together as a family following her return from the case she was on with the team. And now Monday morning had rolled around & Hotch now reluctantly got ready for work.

As he made his way into the kitchen as quietly as he could, he realised he couldn't remember the last time the apartment had been so quiet! Usually Lilly was an early riser, but the weekend of wanting to spend as much time as she could with her mom had worn her out. The little girl loved both of her parents dearly, & when one or both had been away she would be extremely clingy on their return. She was now recovered from her chickenpox & therefore would be able to go to daycare. Jack would be going to school so Emily & Hotch would be able to go to work without having to worry about the children.

As Hotch poured the coffee he heard footsteps walking up behind him. He turned to see a heavy eyed Emily making her way towards him. "Hey Sweetie," he said gently, "Sorry if I woke you." He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I need to get up anyway." she replied as she leant into him & wrapped her arms around him.

"How you feeling?" he asked as he stroked her back.

"Ugh, that coffee's strong!" she said as she clamped her hand over her nose & mouth. Hotch reached behind to pull the pot out of the way. "Sorry Honey," he said "I forgot! Why don't you go get dressed & I'll sort this out. Want me to fix you some breakfast?"

Looking paler than before she shook her head, "Think I'll just grab some fruit or something on the way out. Thanks though." She flashed a weak smile & headed back down the hall to get ready.

Hotch carried on pottering about the kitchen fixing some breakfast that wouldn't turn his wife's stomach at the smell. It wasn't easy! The cinnamon on his cereal she'd found too strong yesterday, and cooking something was completely out of the question. He settled on Emily's idea of fruit &, since it was just first thing that she was queasy, he would get something more substantial later in the morning.

Emily emerged about twenty minutes later looking brighter than before. "Hey, I'm gonna go wake the kids & start getting them ready." Hotch flashed her a smile before she wondered down the hall into Jack's room.

She crouched next to his bed & stroked his hair as she said gently, "Hey Buddy, time to wake up Sweetie." To Emily's surprise Jack turned toward her & put his arms out for a hug. She gratefully accepted the hug & as she pulled away she placed a kiss on his forehead. "You ok Jack?" she asked with concern as she noticed his upset features. Jack usually struggled to get up in the mornings & was definitely not one for wanting a hug as soon as he woke, he normally liked his space for the first few moments after waking. This coupled with the upset look on his face had Emily worried. Jack pulled her in for another hug. "I had a bad dream!" Emily squeezed him tighter, "Oh baby I'm sorry! Wanna talk about it?" Jack pulled back from the hug & looked at Emily with tears in his eyes, "You went away & we didn't know where you were. You won't really leave us will you Emmy?" These words brought tears to her own eyes, she bit her lip to try & stop them spilling. She took Jack's hand & gave him the most loving look she could, "Jack I'm not going anywhere! I love you so much, I would never leave you. You mean so much to me! I can't imagine my life without you in it, I wouldn't want to! It was just a dream baby. Come here, give me another one of those hugs!" He reached up for another hug but this time a grin had started to creep over his little face at her words. He squeezed her tight & said "I love you Emmy!" She kissed him on the cheek & said "I love you too Buddy!"

Just as they pulled away from the hug, excited footsteps ran towards the room & in ran Lilly. The three year old demanded the attention of all in the room as she dived onto Jack's bed & pulled her big brother into a hug. "Lilly! Get off me!" Lilly looked dejected as Jack pushed her off him. She looked towards her mom & said "But I only giving Jack-Jack a hug!" Emily sat on the edge of the bed & said to the little girl, "Maybe Jack-Jack might appreciate it more if it was a gentle hug & if you asked first. What do you say?" Lilly's expression changed into a happier one as she looked towards Jack & said, "Jack-Jack, can I have a hug?" Jack looked up at Emily as if to say 'Do I have to?' Emily nodded & Jack reluctantly held open his arms for a hug. A delighted Lilly returned the hug & then turned to her mom and swung her arms around her neck. "Oh my goodness!" Emily said playfully, "That was a doozy! I think Daddy might want a hug just like that one. Why don't you go find him." With that Lilly toddled off in search of her father, once again leaving Jack & Emily alone. "Hey Buddy, you ok now?" Jack nodded his head in response & flashed a smile towards Emily. She smiled back & said "Good! Just remember I love you ok. Now go get ready for school."

After dropping the kids off at school & daycare, the adults made their way to work. Hotch drove carefully keeping in mind Emily's still delicate stomach. Hotch threw a quick glance towards his wife & grabbed her hand fixing his eyes back to the road, "You ok Sweetie?" he asked. She smiled & said "Yeah, just tired. And I was wondering..." She said somewhat hesitantly, "...Can we keep this to ourselves for a while?" she asked as she dropped a hand to her stomach. Hotch sent another smile her way & replied softly, "Definitely! I love that for now it's just ours." He placed his free hand on top of hers that was resting on her belly & said, "I was going to ask you the same. The kids will be so excited when we tell them, we need to make the most of the peace while we can. At home _and _at work!"

The rest of the journey they spent fingers interlaced just enjoying the silence between them. They knew it wouldn't last long, so any moments like this they really made the most of.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two.

**Author's Note: Having never been to America I'm not sure if Quantico has any nice parks. So for the sake of my story, it has :-)**

The morning went by quite quickly & it was soon lunch time. Having not been able to stomach much food for breakfast, Emily was starving! Hotch approached her desk & lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Can I take you to lunch?" Emily looked discreetly around her & then whispered, "Sweetie, as great as that sounds we really need to watch our budget at the moment!" Hotch smiled as he held up a bag & said, "Good job I came prepared then. I was thinking we could go sit in the park & enjoy some lunch. How's that sound?" Emily couldn't help but grin at the thought of some alone time with her husband right in the middle of the work day. "That sounds wonderful!" And with that she grabbed her jacket & left the building, hand in hand with Hotch.

Upon arriving at the park they found a quiet bench, a little out of the way so they could enjoy some peace. Emily sat in anticipation of what Hotch had brought along in his goody bag. He could see the eager look on her face as he said, "Now I wasn't sure what you'd fancy so I brought a variety." With each item he took from the bag he announced what it was, "We have salad, a few choices of sandwiches, chicken wings which, might I point out I made a special journey for," he said with a raised eyebrow & a smirk. He continued, "Fruit, and your favourite thing the last few days...chocolate!" He said the last item with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Emily began rubbing her hands together as she tried to decide. So this is what he'd been up to while she was getting the children ready! She decided on one of the sandwiches followed by chicken wings. She was thankful that the food was going down quite easily. She was so hungry but had been scared incase it unsettled her stomach...again!

As they munched away on their food a thought suddenly sprang into Emily's head & she sat upright, causing Hotch slight panic. "Honey, you ok?" She realised she must have alarmed him so she answered through a smile, "Yeah, sorry. Just had a thought, we need to make an appointment with the Doctor. Is there some time this week we could go?" Hotch looked thoughtful as he answered, "Well how about after lunch, we go up to my office & make the appointment from there? That way we can confer when would best suit us & see what they have available."

"Good idea."

They sat for a while longer enjoying one another's company. Hotch had his arm around Emily, while Emily leant her head against his shoulder. After a while she broke the silence when she spotted someone selling ice cream, "Hey Honey", she said with a shy grin, "the baby wants an ice cream." Hotch let out a chuckle as he said, "Pulling that card a little early aren't we?" She batted her eyelashes in response as she placed a hand on her stomach, "Would you deny your precious little one happiness because it's only early on? Oh Honey!" she said with a mock pout. Hotch rolled his eyes & stood up, "Back in a minute." She burst into a big cheeky grin, "Thank you Sweetie!"

On returning to the BAU, the couple made their way to Hotch's office & closed the door. Emily got in touch with her Doctor & they made an appointment for that Thursday lunch time. They were both so excited to learn how the little one was doing & it made it so much more real when they could see it on the screen. They couldn't wait!

They made a decision that, after their appointment later in the week, they would tell the children on the weekend. As it was only Monday, Emily hoped the week went by slowly, so that this little secret was just theirs. She knew they couldn't hide it for long. The children were very good at picking up when something was going on. That, coupled with the fact that they worked with profilers, meant they wouldn't have it to themselves for much longer.

Later on the afternoon she was reminded why she had been hesitant about food. She started feeling the effects of a big lunch, and found that she was getting very uncomfortable. She noticed Morgan out of the corner of her eye watching her as she cleared her throat & figeted in her chair. "Emily?" he finally asked, "You ok?" She came up with the most convincing smile she could (not easy!) & said, "Just a big lunch is all. Not quite sitting right." She blew out a shaky breath as she stood from her desk & made her way to the bathroom. Once she was inside the bathroom she rushed into the closest stall as she lost her lunch down the toilet. She then became aware of a set of very colourful eyes on her. She turned to see Penelope Garcia looking on in concern. She hadn't even realised Garcia was in their as she rushed past her in her haste to reach the toilet.

The computer analyst approached & put a comforting hand on Emily's shoulder, "Hey, you ok Em?" Emily didn't quite trust herself to speak so she just nodded. Garcia wasn't convinced, "You sure?" Again, another nod. Garcia looked at her friend sceptically, "It's just not like you to be sick. You've faced the most stomach turning things without..." she was interupted by Emily's hand being held up to stop her speak. "...You're right, not helping. Sorry Em. But seriously, is there anything I can do?" Emily felt better able to speak so she replied, "Just ate a big lunch a little too quick, that's all."

Garcia's eyes narrowed as she said, "Em, I didn't like to say but, last week on that case you weren't yourself. I know I'm not a profiler & I just put it down to the fact that you didn't have your beloved husband & children around you for a few days." Garcia's eyes lit up hopefully as she put that together with Emily's sudden aversion to coffee & what she'd just witnessed. She said through a very hopeful grin as she dropped a hand to her chest, "You're not keeping a little secret from Aunty Penelope are you? Is Hotchner/Prentiss baby number two currently under construction?"

Panic ran through Emily's veins & then she realised she was turning a dark shade of red, which basically answered the red-head's question without words. She looked up at Garcia with a very sheepish smile & Garcia squealed in delight & clapped her hands together. Emily stood back up & grabbed onto Garcia's hands in an attempt to calm her down. She looked into her eyes & said, "Pen, you can't tell _anyone!_ We're...well we _were_, keeping it a secret for now. We haven't even told the children yet. We have an appointment on Thursday to see how the baby's doing & we're going to tell the kids the weekend." She pleaded with her eyes, "Please Pen, not a word." Garcia could see the panic in the Brunette's face. She pulled her into a gentle hug & said, "No one will hear it from me!" and then barely able to contain her excitement she whispered with a bounce on her tiptoes, "But for the record I am SUPER excited!"

Emily couldn't help but grin at her friend, "We are too! Oh & please don't let on to Aaron that you know."

"Not a problem! My lipstick-clad lips are sealed."

"Thank you Pen! Now I better get back before the others catch on." And with another hug for her friend she made her way back to her desk to try & finish the workday without drawing anymore suspicion.

**A/N: Please review my lovelies :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, it's great to hear what you all think! And I really appreciate those of you who took the time to comment on how I can improve, thank you! :) I've based the character of Lilly on a cross between my friend's little girl and Tootie from Meet me in St Louis (Brilliant film!), so she's a bit of a monkey! :)**

The afternoon dragged for Emily. She felt awful and all she wanted was to be home! Thankfully she was able to hide these feelings well, and nobody seemed to notice that she was off. She was so pleased when it was time to go home. She had managed to convey to Hotch that she wasn't feeling good, and so at the earliest oppurtunity he packed up his things and made his way over to her desk. They were the first to leave the office, which wasn't unusual as they often wanted to get back to the children.

As soon as the elevator doors closed Emily leaned her head on Hotch's shoulder and closed her eyes. He started rubbing comforting circles on her back, "You ok Sweetie?" She replied in a whisper, "If I don't move then yes. Ugh, I hate feeling like this!" Her voice started to tremble as she choked back tears. Hotch shifted so he could see her face, "I'm sorry Honey. We'll be home soon, then you can get comfortable." He felt her nod against his jacket. The entire journey home Emily kept her eyes shut and her head rested against the window.

As Hotch opened the front door an excited shout echoed through the apartment, "Daddy! Mommy! You're home!" Lilly ran towards them and threw her arms round Hotch as he bent down to pick her up. "Hey you! Have you been good?" This question was always met with the same answer, "I'm always good Daddy!" Hotch would reply "Oh really?" simultaneously tickling the 3 year old as she squealed with laughter. Lilly then spotted her mother, and Emily gave the little girl a weak smile and leant forward to give her a kiss as she was still in her father's arms. Lilly knew her mother was not quite right. "What's wrong Mommy?" she asked as she turned her head to the side, "Why are you sad?"

Emily tried her best to perk up but failed miserably. She answered while stroking the little girl's hair, "Mommy's not sad Sweetie, I'm just not feeling so good." She then turned to Hotch and said weakly, "I'm gonna go lie down for a while. Will you be ok with the kids?"

"Sure." he said gently, "You want me to get you anything?"

"No, thank you. I should feel better after a rest."

"Ok Honey." He kissed her on the forehead, "Let me know if you need anything." With that she headed down the hall into their room, waving a quick hello to Jack as she went.

As Hotch stepped out of his shoes while balancing the 3 year old, their neighbour Mrs Grady came from the living room to greet him. She had picked the children up for Emily and Hotch, and stayed with them until the couple returned home. "Hey Aaron!" she said through her usual friendly smile, "Is Em ok? I thought I saw her rush past."

"She's not feeling too good. She's just gone for a lie down, she'll be fine." Wanting to get off that subject so as not to draw suspicion he said, "So did the little monsters behave for you? Thank you so much again for this!"

"Oh it's not a problem!" she said as she pinched Lilly's cheek, "These two are never any trouble. And I have to pick mine up anyway so it's really no bother."

"Well we really appreciate it, thank you!"

"You're welcome! Hey, say hi to Em for me. Hope she feels better soon!"

"Will do."

She shouted through to the living room, "Hey Zack, Mitch! Come on, time to go!" And with that the two boys came running through, almost crashing into Hotch as they bolted for the door. Their mother looked apologetically towards Hotch and said, "Sorry!" then turning her attention towards her sons she said, "Boys where are your manners?" The two looked up at Hotch and said almost in unison, "Bye Mr Hotchner!"

"See you guys!" he replied as he closed the door behind them.

Lilly blew out a heavy breath as she said through a frown "They really 'nnoyed me!"

"Why Lil? What did they do?"

"They said I couldn't play cause I'm a girl!"

"Well that's not nice is it?"

"No. It. Isn't!" she said with a shake of the head on each word. "Ya know what I told 'em Daddy?"

"What did you tell them Sweetheart?"

Her face lit up with a cheeky smile, "I told 'em that if they didn't let me play, I would bite them REALLY hard! And I would too, but then they let me play so I didn't need to." She seemed very proud that she had managed to persuade the seven and five year old to let her join in.

"Lilly, no!" Hotch gave a disapproving look towards his daughter, "You musn't threaten people to get your own way, that's wrong Honey!"

Lilly looked shocked that her father wasn't proud of her for this. "But it worked Daddy!" she said through a pout.

"Maybe it did, but it doesn't mean you get to go round saying things like that Sweetie. If you do that then people won't like you and you won't have any friends."

She looked solemnly at the floor and mumbled "Sorry Daddy."

Hotch made his way to the living room to see Jack busy finishing off his homework. The young boy looked up and smiled at his dad. "You ok Buddy?" Hotch asked. Jack just nodded in response and carried on with his work. After a second Jack asked, "Hey dad, is Emmy ok?"

"Yeah Jack, she just went for a lie down."

Hotch spent the evening getting the kids fed and bathed. They had a little time for relaxing before it was bed time. All the while Emily slept soundly. When the children were in bed and Hotch was locking up and turning off the lights before turning in himself, he heard commotion from the main bedroom. He opened the door to see a vacant bed and the light on in the bathroom. He made his way over to the doorway where he could see his wife sat on the floor, poised with her head over the toilet. She turned towards him with tears glistening in her eyes, "I didn't make it." she said weakly. He looked down to see that she'd vomitted on her trousers. He walked over and sat beside her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Sweetie, I'm sorry! Why don't you get into your PJ's and I'll clean this up?" She nodded before gently easing herself up with his help.

Emily got into her nightwear, a vest top and shorts, while Hotch cleaned up the mess in the bathroom. When he had finished he joined her and sat on the edge of the bed next to her. He hooked his arm around her shoulders and said gently, "How you feeling?" She met his eye and smiled softly as she said, "Oddly I feel better now I've thrown up. It's just a shame that's what it takes to feel better!" Hotch smirked and placed a kiss on her forehead, "Well, I'm just glad you _are_ feeling better!" He stood from the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Emily made her way back into the bathroom. When she emerged after cleaning her teeth, Hotch was already under the covers. As she walked over to the bed she noticed him looking at her and smiling to himself. "What?" she asked through a smile of her own. His smile didn't fade as he said, "Nothing." She looked at him with suspicion as she got into bed, "Seriously, why are you looking at me like that?...And if you say 'Nothing' you're on the couch tonight!" she said with a measure of humour. Hotch rolled his eyes as he cuddled up to her and said, "It's just...you're starting to show already." They both dropped their gaze to her belly where there was more of a slight bump appearing. A smile crept over her face as Hotch reached out a hand to carress the tiny bump that was their child.

The next few days had been much better, as Emily was learning what things affected her delicate stomach. She found it better to eat smaller amounts through the day, rather than larger meals. She kept eyeing the clock and couldn't wait until lunchtime came around! It was now Thursday and they had an appointment with the Doctor to see how everything was going.

Apparently Hotch was just as eager, as he bolted out of his office right on 12 o' clock. He rushed over to Emily's desk with a grin on his face, and she subtly told him (with a matching grin) to calm down. Thankfully the others were preoccupied with phone calls or files, so they didn't notice their Unit Cheif's display of excitement.

The couple made their way into the Doctor's office hand in hand, and sat in the waiting room for their name to be called. Hotch was gazing around the room with a smile on his face, his leg bouncing up and down in excitement. As his gaze drifted to his right, he noticed Emily watching him with a smirk. "Sorry," he laughed, "I can't help it!" She smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek, then snuggled into his side as they continued to wait.

They were then called into a room where they were greeted by Doctor Sandra Cole, who had a very friendly manner and seemed to be somewhere in her 50's. She took some blood for tests and asked questions about how Emily was feeling, when was her last period and how things were going so far. "Okay, so from what you've told me it sounds like you're about 8 or 9 weeks along, which puts your due date at sometime early October. We'll have a little wait for the results from your blood, but in the meantime..." her face softened in a kind smile, "...Why don't we take a look at your baby?"

As Emily lay back on the bed, Hotch gave her hand a squeeze and grinned excitedly...again. Emily returned the smile as he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. Doctor Cole wheeled the machine over and asked Emily to lift up her top. "First we're going to check Baby's heartbeat," she said as she put the reader on Emily's belly. As Doctor Cole pressed a few buttons, a loud, steady Whoosh filled the room. Doctor Cole seemed a little taken back as she said through a smile, "Wow, that's a good strong heartbeat! Very strong, especially for how far along you are." Emily and Hotch shared another smile.

Doctor Cole put the reader back on the stand and picked up another one as she said towards Emily, "Are you ready to see your baby?" Emily looked up at Hotch (who looked like he was about to burst with excitement) and said "Very much!" As the Doctor passed the reader across the bump, the grainy picture came into view on the screen. Turning the screen towards the obviously excited parents, she pointed to a small white blob and said "This here...is your little one."

Emily felt Hotch squeeze her hand even firmer and she looked up to see tears glistening in his eyes and that same grin as he stared at the screen. Emily bit her lip to stop her own tears from spilling as she looked at the picture in awe. She'd had the same feeling with her first ultrasound when she was pregnant with Lilly. It always amazed her how wonderful it was to be able to see the little life that was growing inside of her.

The Doctor's voice cut into her thoughts, "It seems to be the right size and developing nicely. You are starting to show quite a bit already, so just be prepared that you might have quite a big bump. Just be aware that as the pregnancy goes on you might start to get very uncomfortable. Take it easy when you need to and you should be fine." She looked at Emily and then Hotch and said through a smile, "Any questions?"

Hotch piped up, "When will we know the blood test results?"

"They should be back any moment now. But to be honest everything seems fine." she rested her hand on Emily's arm and continued, "Both you and the baby seem healthy. As long as you listen to your body you shouldn't have a problem."

The results backed up what the Doctor had said, and soon Hotch and Emily were on their way back to the office. The grin hadn't left Hotch's face since they'd seen the picture of their little one. Emily sat in the passenger seat, smiling as she continued to stare in amazement at the picture she clutched in her hand. Hotch made her jump as he took her hand into his, "Sorry Sweetheart. You ok?" She nodded in response, "I'm more than ok. I just...It made it so real today! Sure, I was excited before but now...It's another baby! Honey, we're having another baby!" she shook her head in disbelief. Hotch responded by bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently.

**A/N: Not my favourite chapter! Sorry for the rocky start, but at least it ended nice. Can't have it all plain sailing, trying to be realistic. I'm not very good on the medical stuff so if I've got it wrong I'm sorry. Hope you enjoyed it anyway! :) Let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! Glad you're enjoying the story. I'm really enjoying writing it to be honest :) Now here comes the depressing part...I don't own Criminal Minds or Ice Age 3.**

Both Emily and Hotch struggled to concentrate on work for the rest of the day following their appointment at lunchtime. They were both so happy that everything was going well with the baby, and having seen it for the first time meant they were having a hard time keeping a straight face. Thankfully Morgan was in quite a playful mood as he picked on Reid, so Emily had an excuse for the grin plastered on her face.

At the end of the work day, Emily and Hotch walked over to the elevator hand in hand. As soon as the doors closed Hotch allowed his face to show the grin that had been threatening to burst forth all afternoon and said, "Let's see it again!" Emily mirrored his grin as she reached into her purse and pulled out the ultrasound picture. The couple stared at it in awe for as long as they could before they approached the ground floor. Emily tucked it away again as the elevator descended past the first floor. As she lifted her head once again after putting away the picture, her lips were captured by those of her husband. As he broke the kiss he whispered through a smile, "You're amazing!"

"You're not so bad yourself! I love you." And with that she leaned in for another kiss. They were interupted by the ding of the elevator doors a split second before they opened. Composing themselves, they made their way across the carpark to the car.

As Hotch drove them home, it was obvious they were both very excited. Hotch broke the silence, "You know if we wanna keep this a secret we're really gonna have to calm down!" he said through a laugh.

"I know, but I'm so excited!"

"I know, me too! You do know that as soon as we tell Lilly we will have to watch her 24/7 to make sure she doesn't spill."

"Sorry to disappoint you Honey, but we won't be able to keep it quiet much longer. I only have so many tops I can wear that will hide it. I'm running out." she said as she pulled her top taut over her bump. Hotch flashed a smile her way as he pulled the car to a stop outside their building. "Let's have one more look before we go inside." Hotch waited eagerly for Emily to pull the picture out of her purse. As the couple looked at the picture Hotch wondered out loud, "What are you going to be Baby? Will you look like Mommy or me?" Emily leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. They then made their way inside, hand in hand.

As Hotch opened the front door, both were surprised at the noise level...or rather lack of noise level. Emily called out, "Hey guys, we're home!" Expecting to be greeted by a running 3 year old, Emily prepared herself. Instead it was Jack who came trotting around the corner to greet his parents. After greeting both of them with hugs and kisses Jack made his way back to the living room. Emily was about to call after him to ask where Lilly was when their neighbour, Jan Grady, came around the corner and said quietly, "Hey, I think Lilly might be coming down with something. She's been very quiet and took herself off to nap on the sofa. Very un-Lilly!" Emily replied with concern, "Oh no. Well thank you for taking care of them both! I'll go see she's ok. Thanks again Jan." She smiled a 'Goodbye' and made her way into the living room to check on the little girl. Hotch saw Jan out and thanked her again for watching the kids.

Hotch made his way into the unusually quiet living and found Emily crouching next to a sleeping Lilly, holding the back of her hand to Lilly's forehead. "She doesn't have a fever, she's a little warm though. Do you think we should leave her or move her to her bed?"

"I'll take her to her bed." And with that he gently lifted the little girl who stirred slightly and whimpered. Hotch whispered softly, "Hey Sweetie, it's ok. Just gonna take you to your room ok? You can sleep better then ok?" She replied with a nod against his shoulder as he carried her down the hall.

When Hotch joined the rest of his family, Emily had started on the dinner. Hotch said "Hey, you ok doing that?" He eyed Jack after he said it to see whether he suspected anything. The young boy seemed oblivious. Emily replied, "I'm ok at the minute, but when it's time to add the sauce are you ok to take over? I think this is my limit."

"Sure." Then eyeing Jack again he said, "Maybe Jack can give me a hand?" Jack smiled in reply to his dad. He loved helping out where he could, and any chance to get either parent to himself for a while.

Emily made herself scarce when it was time for the boys to take over. Strong smells still unsettled her, so she took the oppurtunity to soak in the bath while everyone else was pre-occupied. She returned to the kitchen to find Jack elbow deep in washing up water, and Hotch drying the pans, both laughing about whatever conversation they held. Hotch spotted her and said, "Hey great timing, we just served up."

"Great! How about we eat on our laps tonight?"

"Can we?" was Jack's excited response, flicking a little water as he exited the washing up bowl.

"Sure, come on let's eat. I'm starving!" Before the family started eating, Hotch poked his head around Lilly's bedroom door to find her still fast asleep.

When they'd all finished eating, they started to watch Ice Age 3 while huddled up together under a blanket on the sofa. When the film had finished Jack began to yawn. Emily ruffled Jack's hair and said, "Think it's time for bed Buddy." Jack didn't protest at all, he just took himself down the hall to get ready for bed. As the couple were waiting to say goodnight to Jack, they peeked in on Lilly again to see her just the same as before, sleeping soundly.

After tucking Jack in, Emily headed towards their own bedroom and Hotch locked up. When Hotch entered their room, he found Emily sat up in bed beaming at the pictures she held in her hand. He had no doubt one was the ultrasound from earlier, but he wondered what the other was. "Hey, what you got their?" he asked as he shut the door behind him.

"I found a picture of Lilly at the same stage as our baby. It's amazing to think that this..." she raised the sonogram picture of Lilly, "...turned out to be our little girl." The end of her sentence was choked off by tears.

"Hey!" Hotch whispered as he made his way under the covers with her and pulled her close, "I know what you mean." he said consolingly against her head, "It only seems like yesterday we were bringing her home for the first time." He broke into a grin, "Do you remember Jack's reaction?"

Emily laughed through fresh tears, "He wouldn't leave her side. He gets that from you."

"What?"

"Protective gentleman." she said as she snaked her arms around him.

Hotch picked up the pictures again and asked thoughtfully, "What do you think the kids will say?"

Emily blew out a deep breath and said "I don't know! I know Lilly drives Jack crazy at times but he's such a good big brother. He loves her so much, he would do anything to protect her. I think he'll be happy."

"What about Lil?"

"I think she'll be so excited! Do you remember when one of the girls in her daycare got a little brother? Lilly didn't stop talking about it for weeks. She begged for a little brother or sister." Emily paused to look fondly at the picture, "And now she'll get one."

Before Emily could start a fresh bout of crying, Hotch took the pictures from her hand and put them safely in the top bedside drawer. As he turned off the lamp he shuffled down under the covers pulling his wife closer. She turned in his arms to face him and kissed him on the lips, "Thank you for our family!" she whispered softly.

He kissed her again and said, "I love you so much..." then he fanned his hand across her slight bump "...both of you!"

Emily woke the next morning and rolled over to find an empty bed. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she realised her husband wasn't in the adjoining bathroom either. Deciding to make the most of her time she got straight into the shower and then started dressing for work. When she emerged into the living room, the scene before her completely melted her heart. Hotch lay asleep on the couch, while Lilly lay asleep across his chest with her head resting under his chin. It was the sweetest thing she'd seen in a long time!

Hotch stirred as she continued to just watch them. As his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw Emily, he croaked "Hey!"

"Hey yourself. How come you're sleeping out here?" she whispered gently.

"Lilly got sick last night and we didn't wanna wake you. She wouldn't settle without one of us and I can't fit in her bed. You need your rest so we slept out here."

"Oh poor baby!" she said eyeing the sleeping little girl.

"I'll stay home with her today. Are you ok going in by yourself?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah sure. Did you sleep ok?"

"Not really. But if she'd ended up in our bed then that would be all of us enjoying a disturbed night."

"Wow! I must have been absolutely gone, I didn't hear a thing!"

Hotch smirked, "Yeah you were pretty out of it. Although you were muttering something about vitamins and blankets."

"Did I?" Emily smiled, "I was dreaming about the erm...B-A-B-Y."

"I figured." He made a move to shift the little girl gently.

"I'll go get Jack ready for school. Why don't you take Lilly and settle back in our bed?"

"Yeah I think I will. You ok getting him ready?"

"Yeah, sure." She kissed him on the forehead, "You get some sleep."

After a long boring day at the office, Emily was eager to get home to her family. She'd resisted (barely) the urge to ring Hotch to find out how Lilly was. She got her answer as soon as she opened the door and heard her little girl shout-singing "Girls just wanna have fun!" As Emily stepped into the living room, she said with a smile towards the little girl "Well somebody's feeling better!" Lilly stopped and turned to see her mother and shouted "Momma!" She ran up to Emily and threw her arms round her neck.

"Hey my girl, how you feeling? Did Daddy look after you?"

"Uh-huh! And I eated some soup and toast and didn't throw up!" She seemed very proud of her acheivement.

"Wow! Good girl." As Lilly toddled off, Emily made her way over to the couch and sat next to Hotch who pulled her into a hug and left a kiss on her forehead. "You had a good day Em?"

"It was ok," she sighed, "I missed you." she said as she looked into his eyes, and their lips found each other in a tender kiss.

They broke the kiss to find Jack looking at them in concern. "Daddy, are we gonna get sick now too?"

"I hope not Buddy! What made you ask that Jack?"

"Because first Emmy got sick and then Lilly caught it off Emmy. Does that mean we'll get it too Dad?"

"When did you hear Emmy get sick?"

"The other day. She was really bad!"

Emily turned to the young boy and said, "Oh Sweetie, I'm ok now. But Lilly didn't catch it from me. I was sick for another reason."

"Why were you sick then?"

Emily looked at Jack for a second and then turned to Hotch with a small smile and said, "Do you think it's time to share?"

Hotch grinned and said, "If you're ready then I am too."

Emily called out to her daughter, "Lilly! Can you come here a second please?"

Lilly came walking over warily, looking worried, "Am I in trouble?"

"No Sweetie", Emily laughed as she pulled her onto her lap, "Mommy and Daddy have something to tell you and Jack."

**A/n: Sorry if it's cruel to leave it there :) Hope you enjoyed it though. Please let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**A/n: Sorry, I think it was a little cruel to end the last chapter where I did, only a little though :) I wanted to take a little more time over writing the kid's reaction to the news than I had spare the other day, so I'm sorry about the wait but hopefully it means it will be better than if I'd have written it in a rush. Hope you enjoy it anyway!**

"What Mommy?" came the excited little voice of Lilly, currently perched on her mother's lap. Hotch took Emily's hand in his as Emily answered, "Well, Daddy and I have some really important news." Emily met Hotch's gaze and he continued, knowing Emily was struggling to form the words herself.

Addressing both children Hotch said, "How would you guys feel about having a little brother or sister?"

Jack's face lit up in delight, "Really Dad?"

"Yeah Buddy." Hotch laughed as he pulled Jack closer into his side.

Lilly continued to look confused so Emily asked gently as she cuddled the little girl, "You hear that Lil? Mommy's going to have another baby. What do you think?" At this Lilly's eyes dropped to the floor and her mouth turned into a slight pout as she said in an upset voice, "But you said _I'm_ your baby!"

Emily turned Lilly round to face her and pulled her close into a hug and said, "Honey you will _always_ be my first baby! You and Jack will always be special to Mommy and Daddy because you are our first children. When I married your Dad, that was the start of our family, so Jack is very special to both of us." she paused to tuck a stray hair behind Lilly's ear, "And then you came along and made it even more special. Mommy and Daddy love you and Jack _so_ much! Nothing will ever change that, ok?"

As Lilly nodded, Jack stood up and made his way towards his sister. "And you know what Lil?" he spoke excitedly, "You're gonna be a big sister! That means you get to teach the baby all kinds of cool stuff! I love being a big brother, it's great! You'll love it Lil!"

Lilly seemed to be perking up after what her brother had said. Hotch reached over and took the little girl from her mother's lap and placed her on his own as he said, "And you know what else?"

"What Daddy?" she said in wonderment.

"You get to help Mommy and Daddy too, like a big girl."

"Help with what?" she said excitedly.

"Well you can help feed the baby, and play with the baby and pick out clothes for the baby. There's lots of things we're going to need your help with. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah!" she said enthusiastically, obviously excited now that things had been made a little clearer for her.

Seeing the excitement of both children made Emily feel even more excited than she previously had been. Her face burst into a grin as she said, "Hey, do you wanna see a picture of the baby?" Lilly's eyes went wide with surprise and she gasped and said, "You saw it already? Where is it? Can we see it?"

Hotch replied as Emily disappeared into their room to get the sonogram picture. "Well it's still in Mommy's tummy, but the doctors have a special machine that lets us see it while it's in there. Like the machine they used when you swallowed that quarter and we could see it inside you."

"Daddy, how long will it be in Mommy's tummy? Can't it come out now?"

"Not yet Sweetie. It has to grow first, if it came out now it would be too small and it would be _very _sick! Mommy's tummy keeps the baby safe while it's growing."

"But how long Dad?" said the little girl, growing impatient.

"It will be just before Jack-Jack's birthday."

"But that's a_ long_ time!" she pouted.

"It will go really fast though Lil. And while the baby's growing inside Mommy, you can talk to it."

"Will it _really_ hear me Dad?" she asked with wide eyes and a big smile.

"Yeah! And sometimes you can feel it move too."

"Wow!" Hotch realised he'd probably said too much as Lilly ran off in search of her mother. As Lilly ran into her parents' room Hotch heard her yell, "Mommy come here!" followed by Emily's "Ooh! Well hello to you too!"

Hotch looked towards Jack, who was still smiling brightly. "Hey Jack, how do you feel about this?"

"I think it's great Dad!"

Hotch scooted closer to his son and pulled him into a hug, "What Emily said is right you know Jack. You are so special to both of us! Do you remember when Lilly was born? You were so good!"

"I loved it! Being a big brother's great!"

"I have a feeling Lilly might find it a bit difficult at first. Do you think you could help her out a bit? She listens to you and really respects you."

"Sure Dad!"

Hotch placed a kiss on his son's forehead, "Thank you Jack!"

Just then Emily came back into the room followed by a very excited Lilly. "Sorry for the delay guys, I was attacked by a gremlin!" she said playfully as she scooped Lilly up and made her way back over to the couch. Lilly giggled loudly, "I'm not a gremlin Mommy!" Emily laughed and kissed the little girl's head, "I know, I'm just teasing." She then turned to Jack and said to the children, "So do you guys wanna see your little brother or sister?" This was met with an excited chorus of "Yeah!"

"This..." she held out the picture for them to see, "...is the baby."

Lilly looked confused again and said, "But it doesn't look like a baby!" Hotch turned to Lilly and said, "It looks very different when it's inside Mommy. Like I said before, it has to grow first. Before the baby's born, the doctors will take another picture of it and it will look different to this picture because it will be bigger."

As the children continued to stare at the grainy picture, Emily explained, "You see this bigger part here? Well that's the baby's head. And these are it's arms, and there's it's legs." Lilly piped up excitedly, "I think it looks like me!" Hotch couldn't help but chuckle, "Really Lil? How does it look like you Sweetheart?"

"Because I go like this..." she mimicked the same posture as the baby, "...all the time!" At this the other three couldn't contain their laughter. Hotch pulled Lilly into his arms and said, "You know what? I think you're going to be an amazing big sister!" Lilly looked proudly up at her Dad as he said this and then she squirmed away from his grasp to make her way to her mother.

The little girl looked up at her Mom and gave her a cheeky smile as her gaze drifted down towards her Mother's belly. She then started to whisper against the slight bump and said, "Hey Baby, we sawed a picture of you today and I think you look like me! I'm real excited to see you when you come out. Me and Jack are gonna look after you and teach you loadsa cool stuff! I love you Baby!" and then she left a gentle kiss against Emily's belly.

When Lilly stood back up she noticed tears running down her Mom's cheeks. "Why are you sad Mommy?" Emily gave the warmest smile she could, which really was not difficult after hearing Lilly's words. "I'm not sad Sweetie. I'm crying because you made me really happy with what you just said to the baby. Sometimes grown-ups cry when they're happy. Come here, give Mommy a hug." Lilly grinned at her Mom before reaching her arms around her neck and laying her head against Emily's shoulder.

The entire evening was filled with excited chatter about the baby. Lilly seemed to want to prove that she would make a great big sister as she tried to assist her Dad with making dinner. In reality she just caused more mess, but Hotch didn't mind, it made Lilly feel very proud. The 3 year old ran into the living room and said excitedly, "Mommy, Jack, we cooked for you!"

After all had eaten and everything was cleared away, Emily joined Hotch in the kitchen while the children sat in front of the TV. "I think that went well." she said as she snaked her arms around his middle and leant her head against his chest. He responded by wrapping his arms around her back and swaying to and fro. "I do too. You do realise though, this is the end of our peace for a while?"

"In a nice way though." she said with a smile, "It's great how involved they both want to be, and how excited they are!" She sighed contentedly as she said, "We have a wonderful family, thank you!"

"Hey, as I recall you were there too." he left a gentle kiss on her temple."You really are amazing, you know that?"

"Honey you tell me all the time."

He lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes, "Then I must really mean it!" and he placed a loving kiss on her lips.

As the couple broke the kiss they could see Lilly standing at the end of the kitchen counter with a cheeky grin threatening to break forth. As it did, she brought both hands up in front of her mouth and let out a giggle before running off into the other room again.

At seeing this Hotch said softly, "I think she gets her cheeky side from her Mother." Emily gave him a playful shove and said with a flutter of her eyelashes, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you say Jack is just like me right? Which one of our children is the most cheeky?"

"Well...Lilly, but..."

"And which one of our children has a mixture of both your genes and mine?"

"Lilly." she said as she rolled her eyes.

"So if Jack is just like me, then it's reasonable to say that Lilly gets her cheekiness from her Mother." he said with a cheeky grin of his own. Emily narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I don't know, you do have your moments Mr Hotchner."

"Is that right Mrs Hotchner?" he said softly against her lips. Before Emily could respond, Hotch captured her lips with his own, in another tender kiss.

This time as they broke the kiss, they were still alone. Emily played with the edges of Hotch's T-shirt and said, "It's getting late. Maybe we should think about getting the little monsters off to bed."

"You're right! Come on let's go round them up." But neither made a move from the other's arms. They just stood there, silently enjoying the comforting touch of the other. After a few more moments had passed, they made their way into the living room to find Lilly lying with her head on Jack's lap, fast asleep as Jack tried to keep as still as he could so as not to wake his sister.

The scene really touched Emily, as she thought once again about how amazing Jack was as a big brother. Hotch bent down to pick Lilly up and get her ready for bed. Jack yawned as he smiled up at Emily, "Hey, you tired Buddy?" The little boy nodded in response. Emily held out her hands to help him up from the floor and said, "Come on Sweetie, let's get you to bed." Jack wrapped both his arms around Emily's waist in a kind of side-hug as the two walked towards his room. Just as she was about to walk away, Jack leaned up to give her a big hug as he smiled and said, "You're a great Mommy Emmy! I love you!" She couldn't form a response as hormones kicked in once again. As she composed herself she kissed Jack on the head and said through tears, "I love you too Jack!"

When everyone (including Emily) was settled in bed, Hotch made his way into their room as he'd just finished locking up. Emily was lying on her side facing away from him, and as he slipped quietly under the covers and turned off the lamp, he heard quiet sobs coming from his wife. He took her into his arms and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey Honey, what's wrong? Did Jack say something to you?" He felt her nod in reply as she continued to cry. Pulling her even closer he said, "Oh Sweetheart I'm sorry! What did he say? Do you want me to have a word with him?" She turned to face him and took in a shuddering breath as she shook her head and said, "No. He was really sweet! Aaron, he told me I'm a great Mommy and that he loves me. I know he says he loves me all the time, but that's the first time he's used the expression 'Mommy' when referring to me!" She wiped her eyes and continued, "I'm just a bit emotional at the moment, I'm sorry."

"Hey don't be sorry Sweetheart!"

"Ugh, I'm pathetic! One word from a 7 year old has me crying like a baby!"

"Honey you're not pathetic! I think it's really sweet that you're so touched by what Jack said. I couldn't have wished for a better mother-figure for him! To see how much you both adore one another, it makes me so happy. No one would ever think that he's not biologically yours! And for that Sweetheart..." he kissed her again, "...I'm thankful every day!"

"Aaron, are you trying to help me stop crying or do you want to make it worse?" she said through a fresh bout of tears.

"Sorry Em!" he said through a laugh as he stroked her hair, "I'll keep quiet now."

"Promise?" she asked through a cheeky smile.

"See, I told you Lilly gets that from you!"

She rolled her eyes and snuggled into his side. "I wonder which one of us this one will be like?" Hotch smoothed his hand over the bump of her stomach and said, "Exciting isn't it?"

"Yeah." she said through a grin as she enjoyed the thought of a dark-haired little boy, with her eyes and Hotch's personality, or a little girl who looked just like her, but was as calm as Jack. It was with these thoughts that Emily allowed herself to drift into sleep.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! See why I didn't just wanna stick it on the end of the other chapter, ended up being a whole chapter in itself :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

**A/n: Aw, I'm glad you lot enjoyed the last chapter! Not quite sure yet where this one is going. We'll see!**

Hotch stretched sleepily as he woke from his restful sleep. He glanced to his right to see Emily still sleeping soundly, with a peaceful smile gracing her features. He was about to pull her closer when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned to see Lilly standing by the bed with a cheeky smile on her face. "Hey Pumpkin," he whispered, "What are you doing in here?"

"I wanna say hi to the baby!" she replied in her attempt at a whisper.

"Well Sweetie, Mommy's still asleep so you'll have to wait ok?"

"Can I wait in here with you? I'll be good Daddy I promise!" she said with another cheeky grin. He thought for a second and took another look at Emily before turning back to Lilly and saying, "Alright, but you have to be quiet and no fidgeting ok?" Lilly replied with a grin and a nod as she climbed clumsily next to her father who had turned back the quilt so she could get in.

Hotch yawned quite loudly. Hearing this, Lilly tucked her bottom lip quickly under her top teeth and said in a not-so-quiet whisper, "Ssh Daddy! You'll wake Mommy up!" A croaky voice from the other side of the bed said playfully, "Yeah Daddy, I'm sleeping. Ssh!" At hearing that her mother was awake, Lilly clambered over Hotch, knocking the air out of his lungs in the process as she bounced over to greet her mother. "Hey Mommy! I come to say hi to the baby!" Emily opened her eyes a sliver to see Lilly's bright smiling face right up close to her own. She allowed her eyes to drift closed again but broke into a smile as she said, "Hey my girl! Come give Momma a hug." Emily rolled onto her back to leave her arms accessible to Lilly, who rested her head on Emily's shoulder as her mother wrapped both arms around the little girl.

Hotch smiled as he watched the interaction between mother and daughter. He thought how fortunate he is to have such a wonderful family and how he couldn't possibly want anything more! A few weeks ago he'd felt the same, thinking how amazingly happy he was raising two children with the woman he adored more than he could imagine. And then to find they were expecting another child...The thought of this had him grinning from ear to ear!

A gentle knock at the bedroom door pulled Hotch from his thoughts. Lilly shot out of the bed as she shouted "Jack-Jack!" and pulled open the door to let her big brother in. Jack shuffled into the room sleepily, rubbing his eyes. As Jack approached the bed Hotch said, "Hey Buddy, care to join us?" Jack nodded with a small smile as he climbed into the bed as well.

Lilly had claimed her earlier position next to her mom, but this time the 3 year old had shuffled head first under the covers which brought confused looks to the adults faces, and a roll of the eyes from Jack. Hotch asked, still looking confused, "Hey Lil, what are you doing?" Emily's flinch and sudden cry of "Ooh!" gave him some idea. Emily's face broke into a big smile as she whispered towards Hotch, "I think she's saying hi to the baby."

The three older Hotchner's could hear Lilly's muffled voice from under the covers, "Hi Baby! It's Lilly again. Did you sleep ok? I had a dream about you and you looked all funny." Lilly chuckled as she told the baby about her dream. "I love you Baby!" Emily flinched again and said through a smile, "Hey Lil, that tickles Sweetie!" Emily pulled back the covers to reveal Lilly placing kisses against her new sibling's current home. Lilly grinned up at her mom before saying in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious just what she was doing, "Sorry Mommy, but I had to give the baby kisses so it knows we love it and it will want to come out and see us!"

Hotch looked at Jack and pulled him into a hug and said "Who wants breakfast?" to which the children's eyes lit up and Lilly bounced up and down on the bed shouting "Me, me!" Hotch sent her a scolding look and said, "Lil, don't bounce on the bed! You'll make Mommy sick." He hadn't made it halfway through his sentence before Emily darted for the adjoining bathroom to spill her stomach contents down the toilet. Lilly had a very guilty look on her face and looked down towards the floor as she mumbled, "Sorry Mommy!"

Jack took his sister into the living room while Hotch made sure Emily was ok. On entering the bathroom he wet a washcloth with cold water, rung it out and placed it on the back of Emily's neck. Confident that she was finished, but not having the energy to stand just yet, Emily leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes. Hotch sat on the floor next to her and placed his arm gently around her shoulders, "You ok?" She opened her eyes slowly and gave a soft smile, "Yeah, I think I'm done." Hotch returned the smile and kissed her gently on the temple. Eyeing the floor he said "Hey, at least you made it this time!" She gave a gentle smile before her expression suddenly changed to panic and she lunged for the toilet again, throwing up some more. Hotch rubbed comforting circles on her back and pulled her hair out of the way.

Having finished the latest bout of vomiting, Emily rested her head against Hotch's shoulder as he pulled her into a very gentle hug. She croaked quietly, "Remind me why I'm doing this!"

"Because in several months time, we will have a wonderful new baby." he left another kiss on her temple and rested a hand over their child, "I'm just sorry you have to feel like this in the meantime!" She smiled up at him sweetly and whispered, "Me too!" After about half a minute of sitting cuddled up on the floor, Emily said "Would you be ok sorting the kids out if I jump in the shower? I feel kind of disgusting!"

"Sure." He rose to his feet before helping Emily up from the floor. She couldn't resist one last hug before he left to check on the children.

Hotch made his way into the living room and found Jack talking to a very worried looking Lilly. Hotch furrowed his brow as he walked towards the pair, "What's the matter Lil?"

"Jack-Jack said Mommy got sick cause of the baby. Is the baby gonna be naughty Daddy? It's not nice to make Mommy sick!" she said with a serious face and a shake of the head.

Hotch chuckled, "Well, no it's not nice to make Mommy sick. The baby can't help it Lil. It doesn't know it's making Mommy sick." Lilly still didn't look convinced, so Hotch continued, "You don't like it when Mommy's sick do you?"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Well did you know, that when you were in Mommy's tummy she got very sick then too? And you didn't do that on purpose did you?"

The little girl looked horrified at her dad's words and shook her head slowly.

"Lilly, the baby's too little to realise it's making Mommy sick. It doesn't mean the baby's naughty Sweetheart."

Lilly frowned and said, "Good, cause I'd tell it off Daddy! You should never make Mommy sick. Its..Not..Nice!"

"But you know what we can do?" Hotch whispered gently, "We can do our best to make Mommy feel better by giving her lots of gentle hugs and kisses and telling her how much we love her. That always makes her feel better!"

Lilly's face lit up. "Ok Daddy! But can we have breakfast first, I'm SOOO hungry!"

"Ok drama queen," Hotch giggled as he walked into the kitchen.

After breakfast was finished with, and Emily had rejoined them, Hotch then made his way off to get himself dressed. Emily stood from the sofa and said lightly "Right little girl, come on lets get you dressed!" Instead of the usual whining, Lilly stood up and toddled towards her mother, holding out her hand and grinning brightly up at Emily. Emily smiled back and took the little girl's hand as they walked toward the family bathroom.

As Lilly was pulling on her socks, something she usually struggled with but this morning insisted on doing herself, she looked up at Emily with a small smile. Emily sensed something was bothering the little girl, "What's up Lil? Need some help?"

"No, I can do it myself Mommy. I'm a big girl!"

"Ok." Emily crouched down so she was at eye-level with the almost four year old. "You look kinda sad Honey, what's wrong?"

Lilly gave a dramatic sigh and put her head to the side, "Daddy said when I was in your tummy I made you sick, like the baby did." She looked up at her mom with pleading eyes and said, "I'm sorry Mommy! I didn't do it on purple!"

Emily gave a small chuckle, "I think you mean 'on purpose'. Sweetie I know you didn't mean to! It's just something that happens when you have a baby." She smoothed back Lilly's hair and said, "And look what I got at the end of it...You! My wonderful baby girl." She could feel herself tearing up again, so she stopped talking. Lilly responded with a wide smile and a hug, "I love you Mommy!"

"I love you too Lil!"

That afternoon, the family went shopping for new school trousers for Jack as he was growing out of his. Lilly, who usually hated shopping, was being especially well behaved. As they walked through the crowded shopping centre, Lilly kept a tight grip on her Mother's hand. As they walked past an obviously pregnant lady, Lilly said very loudly as she pointed, "Mommy, will your tummy get _really _big like that ladies tummy?" Emily could feel herself start to go red out of embarassment of her daughter's outspokeness. She pushed Lilly's hand down as she offered an apologetic smile to the rather annoyed looking lady. When said lady was out of earshot Emily answered, "Lil, you can't shout out things like that Sweetie, you'll upset people!"

"But why Mommy? She _did_ have a really big tummy."

Emily caught Hotch trying to hold back his laughter as Emily struggled to answer, "I know, but it's rude to tell someone they have a big tummy!"

"She must _know_ she has a big tummy Mommy, it's _huge_!"

By this time Jack was also trying not to laugh. Emily answered, "Even so, it's not nice to tell someone." She gave a pointed look towards Hotch, "Or to laugh about it!"

He mouthed 'I'm sorry' as he continued to try and control his laughter.

Lilly piped up again, realising her original question hadn't been answered, "But will you have a really big tummy Mommy?"

"Mommy's tummy will get a lot bigger, yeah. But you know what we forgot to tell you guys", she looked into the little girl's eyes and said, "We're gonna keep it a secret about the baby, ok? Do you think you can do that? Just until Mommy and Daddy say you can tell people alright?"

Lilly looked up proudly and said "I can keep a secret! I won't tell anyone."

"Good girl!" She looked at Jack, "You ok with that Jack?"

"Uh-huh!" he nodded with a smile.

After a while of walking round, they finally managed to find some trousers for Jack. As they waited in line to pay, Lilly was humming away to herself, not seeming to notice or care that she was in public. Hotch placed a gentle arm around Emily's shoulders and pulled her into his side, "You ok?"

She smiled up at him, "I'm fine. You?"

He kissed her on the head and said, "I'm great!"

They were called up to pay, and as the assistant put their payment through, Lilly watched eagerly, stretching on her tip-toes to see what was going on. The assistant made eye-contact with Lilly and smiled at her. Lilly responded with her own smile and said "Hi!" The young girl behind the till couldn't hold back a bigger smile and said, "Well hi there! Are you being a good girl for your Mommy and Daddy?"

"Uh-huh! Guess what?"

"What?" Hotch didn't know what the little girl was going to say to the stranger. He looked on curiously.

"My Mommy's got something in her tummy, but I can't tell you what it is cause it's a secret!" Hotch interupted before Lilly could say anymore, "Ok Miss Chatterbox, go stand by Mommy while I pay ok?"

Lilly skipped off towards her mother, completely oblivious that what she'd just said was essentially the same as coming right out with it. As the assistant handed Hotch the bag, she smiled and said quietly, "Congratulations." Hotch smiled, and with a roll of the eyes said, "Thank you."

As they walked back towards the car, Hotch prayed that they didn't see anybody they knew. If they did, Lilly would no doubt give the game away again. The car was now in view, and Hotch breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he pulled his keys from his pocket, he heard Lilly squeal, "Aunty Penny!"

As Lilly flew towards her favourite member of the BAU, Emily took Hotch's hand and noticed the worried look that crossed his face, "What is it Aaron?" she asked quietly.

"Lilly's gonna spill the beans, I just know it!"

Emily bit her lip and looked up guiltily at Hotch, "We...dont need to worry about Pen finding out. She already guessed, I'm sorry! She saw me throwing up, and I swore her to secrecy and told her not even to tell you she knew and..."

"Hey, stop panicking." he said gently as she rambled, "It's ok!"

She looked at him warily and said, "Are you disappointed?"

"Not...really, no. We're gonna have to tell them soon anyway." He pulled her closer into his side, "You've not been worried about this have you?"

"Erm...a little, yeah."

"Em you really shouldn't do that Sweetheart, it's not a big deal!"

"But you wanted to keep it between us for a while, and, to be honest...I really liked it being just ours."

He looked her in the eyes and snaked an arm around her waist and rested his hand on her belly and said, "Em, the most important thing to me is that everyone is healthy and doing well. I couldn't be happier Sweetheart!"

Emily smiled and rested her head against his shoulder as they walked towards Garcia, who was carrying a very excited Lilly, with Kevin following closely behind.

"Hello my loves!" she said in a bright chirpy voice as Lilly bounced up and down in her arms. "So, how's things?"

"Pen, it's ok. You can just ask. Em told me you know." Hotch said with a smile, sensing she was dying to find out how things were with the baby.

"Really?" She asked with a voice filled with hope.

Kevin looked on, very confused, "What's going on?"

Hotch was very impressed that Garcia hadn't even told Kevin. Before Hotch could give an answer, Jack piped up very excitedly, "Mommy's having a baby!"

Only Emily and Hotch had picked up on the fact that Jack had called Emily 'Mommy'. Hotch looked at his wife and found tears in her eyes as she smiled brightly at the little boy. Kevin stood with an open-mouthed smile and said, "That's great guys! Congratulations!"

Garcia bounced up and down excitedly and said, "It's been killing me keeping it to myself!"

"I'm very proud of you Pen, thank you!" Emily said through a wide smile before she was enveloped in a hug from the brightly clad computer analyst. As the hug got tighter out of Garcia's excitement, Lilly squealed, "Ah! You're squishing me!" Garcia loosened the hug and said to the little girl on her hip, "I'm sorry jelly bean! I just got a little excited." Lilly wriggled, signalling she wanted to get down. As soon as she was set down on the floor she went skipping in and out of the adults.

Hotch said very excitedly as he dug out his wallet, "Hey, you wanna see a picture?" Garcia still sported the same grin she'd had since Hotch had given her permission to ask, as she nodded vigorously. "Here's our baby!" he announced, handing the picture to Garcia.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped putting a hand to her chest. Eyes still locked on the picture, she asked, "And everything's good? Both of you healthy?"

"We're both very good!" Emily answered through a smile, "Apart from Baby making Mommy a little sick now and then, everything's great."

Hotch gave Emily a playful nudge and said, "Hey, show Garcia your bump."

Garcia looked up sharply and said, "You're showing already? Oh, can I see?"

Emily giggled and unbuttoned her coat, then pulled her top taut over her belly to reveal the slight bump. Garcia smiled and whispered, "Oh wow! This is so exciting! I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Looks like we won't be able to hide it much longer. I'm running out of things to wear that will cover it up!"

"Mommy's gonna have a _really_ big belly!" Lilly said with a dramatic gesture with her arms.

"Thanks for that Lil!" Emily said sarcastically with a smile as she pulled her daughter into her side.

Hotch looked at Lilly who started to yawn and said, "Well I think we'd better get going. Somebody's had a long day."

"Congratulations again you guys!" said a nervous looking Kevin. Garcia pulled Emily into another hug and said, "I'm so happy for you sweet pea!"

"Thanks Pen!"

"Oh, erm..." Hotch started as they turned to walk away, "...Would you guys be ok to keep it to yourselves just for a little while? We'd really appreciate it."

"Of course!" Garcia replied, "At least I have someone else who knows now. The tension was killing me!"

"Oh, that's why you kept smiling to yourself and said it was nothing." Kevin realised.

As Kevin and Garcia walked away, the Hotchners made their way towards the car. After helping the children into their seats, Hotch and Emily got in themselves. Just as Hotch closed his door, Jack asked, "Daddy, how did the baby get in Mommy's tummy?"

Emily held back a laugh and put her head back on the seat, closed her eyes and said with a smirk, "All yours Aaron. I'm going to sleep!"

**A/N: Haha, bit cruel of Emily there but I don't blame her! I was actually quite pleased with how this chapter went. As I said at the beginning, I weren't entirely sure where it was going, but I'm kinda happy with that.**

**Most important thing though, did you guys like it? Please let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

**A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, it's great to hear what you think! Hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it. Enjoy!**

Later that evening, when the kids had settled down for the night, Hotch and Emily curled up on the sofa enjoying some peace and quiet. Emily asked with a straight face, but a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth, "So how did you answer Jack's little question?"

Hotch's uncomfortable demeanor caused the smirk to break forth on her face. He sighed, "I was hoping to get away with not having to explain that one just yet." He threw his head back on the cushions of the sofa, "I think it went ok, but I don't know! Jack's a thinker, I had to choose my words really carefully. I think it was ok though."

"So what did you say?"

A small chuckled escaped from Hotch's lips, "Something along the lines of a 'very special, secret kind of hug', during which a part of the Mommy and Daddy mix, which results in a baby growing inside the Mommy that's a mixture of both parents."

A grin graced Emily's face, "Was he ok with that?"

"I think so. But as I say, Jack's a thinker. I'm never sure what's really going on inside that little mind."

"Well, I'm sure if he wasn't satisfied with your answer he would have asked again until he was happy with what you told him." She turned to look at Hotch, who was staring off into space, "You ok?" she asked as she wrapped his arms even tighter around her. This brought Hotch out of his daze and he smiled fondly at her, "I'm fine, just thinking."

"What about?" she asked with concern.

He drew in a deep breath and said, "I'd forgotten how great it feels to tell someone that we're expecting a baby. I was just going over different scenarios in my head about how people will..." her snigger made him pause, "...What?"

She smiled and shook her head motioning for him to carry on. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully and continued, "...About how people will react when we tell them. Now will you please tell me what is so funny?" he asked with a smirk.

She giggled and cupped his face with her hand, "I just think it's really sweet that you would be day-dreaming about that!" He visibly relaxed after her response. After a few second's silence she asked as she played with a thread on his t-shirt, "So in these scenarios, what do people think?"

He laughed this time, "I imagine Dave breaking out the scotch to celebrate, Reid spouting statistics about pregnancy and your mother..."

"Ugh, my mother!" Emily groaned as she threw her head back onto the cushions. She winced, "So what do you imagine she'll say?"

"Pretty much the same as she did when you were pregnant with Lil, that she's happy for us but it makes her feel older than she is to know that she's a 'Grandma'."

"Can we just...not tell her, see if she notices?" Emily asked warily.

"Honey, she always visits around our anniversary. It'll be pretty hard not to notice by then! If we don't tell her before she comes, it'll just cause problems when she realises we've kept her in the dark."

"You're right." It was now Emily's turn to stare into space, as the thought of telling her mother the news had her dreading the reaction she would get. Deep down, Emily knew her mother would be very happy about it. The Ambassador loved Lilly and Jack, and took great pleasure in spoiling them whenever she had the oppurtunity.

Hotch's voice broke into her thoughts, "So when do you want to tell people?"

She looked up at him and said, "I don't mind." She took in the look on his face and said with a smile, "You're just itching to tell now aren't you?"

Hotch couldn't hold back the grin and said, "I am excited about it." His face took on a serious look as he said,"But if you want to keep it between us for a bit longer, that's fine."

"Well, as long as we have plenty of moments like this where we can just enjoy it ourselves..." she mirrored his grin, "...I don't see why we can't tell people."

"You sure? You're not just saying that for me?"

She looked him in the eye with a straight face and said, "Honey, I would tell you if I wanted longer. To be honest, I've been dying to tell JJ! She's commented on how tired I've been looking once or twice, and I hate not being completely open with her."

Hotch could hardly contain his excitement as he said, "So when shall we tell?"

"How about Monday, we tell the team?"

"Sounds good! How about your mother?"

"In about 8 months?" she asked with a chuckle. When Hotch rolled his eyes at her she said, "I know, I know! Ok...How about...we call her tomorrow and invite her over for dinner some time next week? I think face to face will be better, the kids can distract her a little."

"I think that's a good idea." He added with a smirk "Roll on Monday!"

When Monday morning did finally come around, both Hotch and Emily were extremely excited to share their news! They discussed how they wanted to go about it in the elevator on their way up to work. Emily wanted to tell JJ first, seperately, like she'd done when she'd found she was having Lilly. That time had been more out of shock than excitement though.

When Emily reached JJ's office, she felt slightly nervous. She knocked on the open door and was greeted by a warm smile as the media liason looked up and saw her in the doorway. JJ was on the phone but motioned for her to come in. As the blonde rounded off the phone call Emily took a seat opposite her, and picked up a framed photo of Henry from the desk.

Having ended the call, JJ sighed and looked at her friend. "Sorry about that! Looks like we'll be heading to Phoenix." she said as she waved the folder in the air. Her eyes narrowed as she asked, "You ok Em? You only play with your ring when you're nervous. What's wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing's wrong," she laughed, "It's excitement rather than nerves I guess."

"Ok." JJ replied skeptically, "What's going on?"

"Well I wanted to tell you before we tell the rest of the team..." she blew out a breath and smiled, "Jayje, I'm pregnant."

"Oh wow!" JJ said with wide eyes and a grin as she hugged Emily, "Congratulations! How far along?"

"Nine, nearly ten weeks. I actually have a bump already." she said as she smoothed the material of her top so JJ could see.

"Wow! Oh Em, you're gonna be big." she laughed.

"I know! That's one of the reasons we're telling people now, can't hide it much longer." She added with a smirk, "I think it might call for a girly shopping trip to get me some clothes I can actually fit into."

"Count me in! So how are things going? How are you feeling?" she asked, still smiling and running a hand up and down her friend's arm.

"It's going really well! Apart from getting sick now and then, but nothing I can't handle. We had our first scan last Thursday..." she handed the picture to JJ, "...There it is!"

"It's so clear! What do the kids think?"

"They're so excited! Lilly's not too impressed with having to wait so long to meet the baby though." Emily laughed, "She talks to my belly every day, says good morning and goodnight...It's so sweet!"

"Oh Em, that's wonderful news! How does Aaron feel about it?"

Emily said through a laugh, "He can barely contain his excitement! I'm surprised you haven't noticed, he's been on cloud nine since we found out."

JJ looked her friend in the eye and took her hand, "I really am so happy for you Em! I'm sorry to cut short a wonderful moment but..." she raised the folder again and winced, "...Duty calls."

As Emily rose from her seat she flashed JJ a smile and said, "I'll walk up with you."

Meanwhile Hotch stood behind his desk, perusing the file that awaited his attention. A knock at the door prompted him to look up. "Hey Dave, come on in!" he said brightly with a smile to match.

"What has you in such a good mood?" Dave asked with a smirk.

Hotch shrugged, still smiling, and looked past Rossi, out of his office window just in time to see Emily and JJ walk through the doors into the bullpen. Rossi followed Hotch's line of sight to see what the unit chief was looking at. Just as Rossi looked through the window, JJ pulled Emily into a congratulatory hug. Dave had no problem reading Emily's lips as she said 'Thank you' to JJ, and then looked up towards her husband's office and smiled. Dave looked at Hotch just as he was returning his wife's smile.

Being the profiler he was, Rossi smiled when Hotch looked his way and said, "Ah, I think I understand the reason you've been taken over by this...happy guy!" With a smirk and an outstretched hand he added, "Congratulations Daddy!"

Hotch took Dave's handshake and replied with a smile, "Thanks Dave!"

"So when were you planning on telling us?"

"This morning. Em wanted to tell JJ first and, from the size of that smile, she already has." Hotch said as his own smile grew.

JJ tapped on the door before walking into Hotch's office and said, "Sorry to interupt, but we have a case."

As she handed the file to Hotch, he noticed the sparkle in her eyes and sensed she really wanted to say something, but was very aware that Rossi was also in the room, and she didn't know whether he knew yet. Hotch gripped the file but didn't pull it away just yet. He met her eyes and said with a hint of a smirk, "I take it Emily told you?"

She seemed to expel a breath that she'd been holding in, as if it was a huge relief that she was now able to address the fact that Hotch and Emily were going to be parents again. "Oh Hotch, I'm so happy for you both!" she said with the biggest smile Hotch had ever seen on the blonde.

"Thanks JJ!" His smile faded but didn't disappear as he looked through the file and said, "Let's go gather everyone to the conference room."

When all were gathered around the conference room table, and JJ had presented the case to them, Hotch stood up and walked around to stand behind Emily's chair. He placed his hands on the back of her chair as he spoke in a very serious tone, "Now before we all head off, there's something a couple of you are aware of, and it's something that's going to affect our team."

Emily could sense he was trying to be dramatic and, out of his cruel sense of humour, get them to panic without reason. By the looks of terror and concern on Reid and Morgan's faces, she could see he was succeeding. She looked up and slightly to the side to see Hotch's still serious face. She placed her hand on his that was resting on the back of her chair and said with a smile, "Don't pay any attention to him, it's nothing bad!"

"Honey, you're spoiling my fun!" Hotch said in a whisper that was intended for everyone to hear.

"Well you're scaring them! I don't think a baby is anything to be scared of."

Morgan's eyes widened and he said with a smile, "A what?"

Hotch repeated with a smile, "A baby...Guys, Em's pregnant."

As Reid just sat there in disbelief, Emily reiterated through a beaming smile and a breathy laugh, "We're having a baby!"

Morgan shook his head as he stood and smiled, "That's great news!" he walked around to give Emily a gentle hug, "Really great news. Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Emily replied through a grin as she eyed Hotch, who was smiling lovingly at her as he accepted a pat on the back from Rossi.

"Sorry to cut short a lovely moment, but..." Hotch checked his watch, "...Wheels up in twenty."

As everyone filed out of the room, Hotch hung back so that he and Emily were the last to leave. As she went to walk out of the door, he grabbed hold of her hand and stopped her. "You ok Sweetheart?" he asked with a smile.

She returned the smile, "Yeah, really good! You?"

He looked down at her stomach as he closed in and took hold of her by the arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm fantastic!"

**A/N: I'm not too sure about this chapter myself, what do you lot think? I've started writing the next chapter, and already I'm much happier with that one than this. I wasn't going to write how Hotch answered Jack's question, but from the reviews you wanted to hear it. I hope it turned out ok! Not entirely sure how I would explain that to a seven year old!**

**Please let me know what you think! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

**A/N: I'm a bit nervous about this chapter, I'm writing a couple of characters that I've never written before. I wanna make it realistic, I hope it works!**

The case in Phoenix had lasted 3 days. Emily couldn't wait to get back to the children! The hormones running through her body made it even more difficult than usual. Jessica had the children to stay with her while Hotch and Emily were away. As one of her own children went to the same school as Jack, it made things easier this way.

Hotch had barely pulled the car to a stop as Emily bolted from the passenger door, up the path to Jessica's house. By the time Hotch had caught up to Emily, she was already being welcomed inside. "Hey Jessica, how have they been?" Emily asked, her voice just beginning to crack.

"They've been fine! Oh, Lil scraped her knee Monday night so she'll probably mention it. Apart from that...fine." Her expression changed to one of concern as she saw the tears form in Emily's eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just missed the kids! Erm..." Emily looked at Hotch as he'd just stepped in and closed the door behind him. "...Do you have a minute?" Emily asked Jessica.

"Yeah, sure." Jessica said, obviously concerned that something was wrong. As she led them through to the kitchen, they could hear the children playing very loudly upstairs. There was a loud bang, followed by fits of giggles from Lilly and one of her cousins.

When all the adults were seated, Jessica looked quite nervous as to what she was about to hear. She looked between Hotch and Emily and asked with a low voice, "What's going on? Everything ok?"

Hotch broke into a smile as he took Emily's hand in his and said, "Everything's fine Jess! We actually have some good news."

Visibly relieved, Jessica's eyes brightened, "So what's this good news then?"

Emily cleared her throat and gave way to a small smile, "I'm pregnant." She pointed to her damp eyes and said, "Hence the tears. Can't seem to pull myself together at the moment."

Jessica stood and smiled as she moved in to hug Emily, "Congratulations! That's lovely news."

Hotch also stood to accept a hug from Jessica, "I'm surprised Lilly hasn't mentioned it already. Her and Jack are so excited!"

Just as Hotch pulled away from the hug, Lilly came running into the kitchen having heard her parents' voices. "Mamma!" she squealed as she launched herself at Emily.

Emily wrapped her arms around the little girl and swayed to and fro, "Oooh my girl, I missed you soooo much! Were you a good girl for Aunt Jessica?"

"Uh-huh! I'm always a good girl" she said proudly as she pulled away from the hug to look at her mother. "Why are you sad Mommy?" she asked when she spotted the tears running freely down Emily's cheeks.

"I'm not sad Baby, I'm just very happy to have you back. I missed you and Jack-Jack!"

The three year old responded with a grin and held her arms up, indicating she wanted another hug. Hotch piped up with a mock pout, "Hey, don't I get one of those?"

"O'course Daddy!" she squeaked as she let go of her mother and threw her arms round her father's neck.

Jack soon came bounding into the room being chased by his cousin. The young boy's face beamed when he saw Emily and his father. He ran up to Emily and embraced her, resting his head on her shoulder. "I missed you Mommy!"

"I missed you too Baby!"

Hotch had noticed that Jessica was a little taken aback with Jack addressing Emily as Mommy. He walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her arm. After checking no children were in listening distance he whispered, "We didn't ask him to call her that. He's very fond of Emily and she loves him as if he were her own. I know it was probably a shock to hear that but..."

"...Aaron, stop!" She looked up at him and smiled tearfully, "You don't have to explain. I admit I was a little surprised, but...in every way that counts Emily is a Mom to him. Hayley wanted you and Jack to be happy. Emily made that happen! She's family Aaron. It's right that she be addressed as family."

Hotch smiled softly at Jessica and dropped a kiss on her forehead. He smirked as he said, "Just don't tell her right now or she'll cry again."

Jessica chuckled, "Ok."

The next evening after work, Emily was busy setting the table while Aaron finished preparing the dinner. Lilly wandered into the room and followed her mother around the table. A confused look graced the little girl's face as she pointed to the extra place and said, "Who's this one for Mommy?"

Emily smiled at Lilly and continued placing the cutlery as she said, "That's for Grandma."

Lilly's face beamed and her eyes grew wide, "Grandma's coming?"

"Yeah, you excited to see her huh?"

Lilly nodded vigorously then ran from the room in excitement. Emily heard the little girl shout, "Jack-Jack, Grandma's coming!"

After finishing the table, Emily made her way through to the kitchen to find Hotch wiping his hands on a tea towel after checking on the dinner. He hadn't heard her come in. "Is it almost done?"

He visibly jumped and dramatically put a hand to his chest. At the sight of Emily laughing, he followed suit. He took the tea towel from his shoulder and whipped it across her butt playfully as he said through a laugh, "You scared me!" Both stood there laughing, and once he'd composed himself he said, "Yeah it's almost done. Got about 10 minutes left."

Emily moved to put her arms around him and said through a huge smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

Hotch pulled her close and rested his chin on her head and said, "It's ok. You alright?"

Emily sighed, "Yeah. I'm a little nervous about telling my mother though!"

"It'll be fine! I think having her here with the kids will be a good way to lighten things." He paused to look her in the eyes and said, "And I'm right here. I can tell her if you like, take some pressure off?"

"I think it's gonna be one of those 'See how it goes' kinda situations." She looked intently at his face, "Thank you." She left a meaningful kiss on his lips, and pulled away just as the doorbell rang.

Hotch moved towards the door as Lilly came bolting through yelling, "Grandma Prenty! Grandma Prenty!"

Hotch smirked at the little girl as he opened the door, "Close enough Lil."

Ambassador Prentiss stepped through the open door towards her son-in-law, "Hello Aaron." she said with a smile.

"Hi Elizabeth, can I take your coat?" he said as he held out a hand for it.

"Thank you."

Lilly ran full force towards her Grandma, smiling and shouting, "Grandma Prenty!" she threw herself towards Elizabeth, who swooped her up into her arms and returned the hug that was given by the little girl.

"Hello Sweetie, I missed you."

"I missed you too Grandma." Lilly's eyes went wide and she said dramatically, "Guess what?"

Hotch quickly stepped in and said, "Hey Lil, why don't you go see if Mommy needs your help. Maybe you can tell Grandma a bit later."

With that Lilly jumped down from her Grandma's arms and bolted towards the kitchen. Hotch turned to Elizabeth and offered an apologetic smile, "Sorry about that. She gets a little over-excited at times."

Elizabeth waved off his apology and said, "No need to be sorry." a rare smile crept across her face, "I enjoy being a Grandma very much! Now where's young Jack?"

"I think he's getting washed up for dinner. Come through, Emily's around somewhere."

They walked through to the kitchen to find Emily checking on the dinner again. "Hello Emily."

She turned round to find her mother smiling at her, "Hey Mother. Dinner's almost ready."

Things seemed to be going well, everyone was enjoying the food, Elizabeth was asking Jack about school, and everyone was getting along well. All the while at the back of Emily's mind was the thought that she would have to tell her mother about the baby. She felt silly for getting so nervous, especially when it was so clear that Elizabeth loved being a Grandma!

Hotch picked up on Emily's nerves and took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He took the oppurtunity while Elizabeth was in conversation with Jack to discreetly ask Emily, "You alright?"

She nodded in reply. He whispered gently, "We really should tell her." Emily looked at her mother, who was still in conversation, and opened her mouth to get her attention. Just as the words were about to form, she lost the nerve and shoved another fork full into her mouth.

Hotch smirked at Emily when she did this, and he realised Emily wouldn't be able to tell her. He took Emily's hand again and called to Lilly across the table, "Hey Lil, do you wanna tell Grandma what you were going to tell her before?"

Lilly looked at her Grandma with wide eyes and said, "Guess what?"

The Ambassador couldn't hide a small smile, "What?"

"I scraped my knee at Aunt Jessica's house!" she said dramatically.

While Elizabeth made a fuss of Lilly, Hotch and Emily exchanged a look. Hotch rolled his eyes and chuckled.

When Elizabeth returned to her seat after giving Lilly 'A cuddle better', she could see Hotch and Emily whispering. "What is it with you two?" she asked with a smile. "You're like a couple of giggly teenagers!"

Emily cleared her throat and gripped Aaron's hand as if her life depended on it. "Well...we erm...have something to tell you." Emily said with a smile as she looked at Hotch.

"What is it Sweetheart?"

Emily found her mother's words had calmed her nerves considerably. When Ambassador Prentiss was around her Grandchildren, it was as if a different person had taken her over, a much softer person. A smile burst onto Emily's face as she said, "We're having another baby!"

Elizabeth stood from her seat and made her way towards Emily with outstretched arms, "That's wonderful Sweetheart! Congratulations!"

Emily found it strange to receive a hug from her mother, but it was very welcome. She couldn't help the tears that formed again. She really was not a crying sort of person, but a mixture of hormones and being elated to find she was pregnant again had her crying so much more often.

Elizabeth moved around the table to congratulate Aaron. Emily had never seen her mother smile so much! When they had told Elizabeth they were expecting Lilly, her mother had been happy but also nervous at the thought of becoming a Grandma. This time she already was, and absolutely loved the role!

When the time came for Elizabeth to leave, Emily and Aaron saw her out. As Elizabeth got her coat on, Aaron pulled Emily into his side and kissed her on the head. Emily wrapped her arms around him and smiled up at her husband.

"Thank you both for a wonderful evening." the Ambassador said as she stood in the hallway. She looked down towards Emily's belly and said with a smile, "It really is wonderful news! Motherhood suits you Sweetheart."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that one! As I said at the beginning, I was nervous about that. Hope I got it right. Kinda pleased with it. Would love to hear what you lot think though!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**A/N: It's one of those chapters I'm afraid where I don't know quite where it's heading. Let's see how it turns out!**

Emily had been far more relaxed in the weeks following her mother's visit. She knew it had been irrational to get so nervous, but when it was over, she was far more relaxed. That was until a couple of days ago, when the couple realised they would definitely have to move to a bigger place. The thought of moving, and everything involved in planning a move caused Emily great worry.

Although she had moved a lot as a child, at that point in her life she was able to leave the work and worry to her mother and staff. This time _she_ was the mother, and couldn't delegate that responsibility to anybody else. She did have Aaron, but again she couldn't expect him to take this on on his own. Even though they had yet to find a place to move, the thought of moving really did stress her out. In fact, it made it worse to know they hadn't found anywhere. This meant she didn't know at what stage in her pregnancy they would actually be moving. Would she be mid-move when her waters decided to break? Would she be able to help at all when it came to moving? Thoughts such as these plagued her daily.

Aaron tried endlessly to reassure her and ease her worry, trying to get across to her just how irrational she was actually being. He had taken on more than his share of jobs around the house, trying to prove to her that he was very capable of taking care of her. It worked to some extent. However, when there was a rare quiet moment, she couldn't help but worry a little.

Over the past weekend her bump seemed to suddenly pop, and was now very much more pronounced. She knew as she was walking into the FBI building with her husband by her side, that people would notice the obviously pregnant belly that wasn't so obvious the previous week. As she walked into the bullpen she braced herself for the comments that were sure to follow.

The first one to notice was Morgan, who raised his head to greet the couple and then did a double-take, "Well hello Mama Hotchner!" he said through a grin as he eyed her belly, "Look at you girl!"

Emily let out a slight breathy laugh, "I was hoping to at least get to my desk before comments were made." As she noticed his face drop with worry that he'd upset her, she quickly added, "I'm teasing Derek!" She smiled softly and stroked a hand along the bump and said, "Baby just decided it's time to be noticed."

Just then Garcia came through to the bullpen wielding files for Hotch's attention. "Good morning my loves!" Then turning to Hotch she added, "Here are those files you asked for Sir. In order according to...Oh my...!" her eyes had widened considerably as she took in the growth of Emily's belly. Eyes transfixed to her friend's midsection, Garcia gasped and said, "Has it seriously only been a weekend since we were last here? I don't remember you being this big pumpkin!" Garcia looked at her friends in mock horror and said, "I didn't blackout and lose time did I?"

Emily chuckled slightly, "No you didn't blackout! And yes it has only been a weekend." Looking again towards her belly she said, "It just kinda popped over the weekend."

Garcia's smile widened, "Well Honey, you look fabulous! Bet you're glad we took our girly shopping trip huh?"

"Oh most definitely! I think Aaron's glad too. If we hadn't then he would have caught the brunt of the freakout that came with not having any clothes to fit into!" She said as she stroked her husband's arm.

Hotch smirked in reply and said, "And with that, I'll leave you to it down here." He placed a kiss on her lips before heading up the stairs to his office.

As the day went on, each new person who walked through the bullpen commented on Emily's sudden growth. When they sensed she was getting tired of it, Reid and Morgan would step in protectively to ward off anybody before they had a chance to comment. This was just as much for their own sakes as it was for Emily's, they didn't cope well with the outbursts caused by hormones!

By lunchtime the team had been called upon to help on a case a couple of states over. It didn't take them long to get their things together and pile onto the jet. Again, Jessica had stepped in and would take care of the children, so Hotch and Emily were free to concentrate on the work ahead of them.

On arrival at the police station, they were welcomed warmly by the local police department. Hotch hadn't missed the worried look the Deputy had given when he noticed Emily's condition. The team were briefed on the case and started setting up their things. Unfortunately because of the time of day, there wasn't a lot the team could do until tomorrow, so after collecting all relevant information they headed to the hotel for the night.

Just as Emily slid into bed next to her husband, she caught the look on Hotch's face. "What is it Aaron?"

"Nothing."

"No, come on!" She said impatiently, "It's not the first time today you've looked as though you're going to say something and then suddenly you back out. What is it?"

He sighed deeply and pulled her into his side, "I don't want you to take this the wrong way ok?"

"Ok, now you're just worrying me!"

"No, it's nothing to worry about! It's just..." he played with her hair as she lay against his chest, "...I worry about you. And you know how demanding this job is and with your current condition..."

"Aaron, don't say it. Seriously, don't!"

"Em, come on! All I'm asking is that you take it a little easier, please Sweetheart!"

She turned away from him and spat out, "Don't 'Sweetheart' me!"

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "I'm just concerned for your safety and that of the baby is all."

She turned sharply back towards him and said in a low dangerous tone, "Oh and I'm not?"

"You know that's not what I..."

"What did you mean Aaron? That you care for this baby more than I do? I think you forget, I've _been_ pregnant before, I _know_ my body and what I can and can't handle. When _I _feel I need to slow down, _I _will decide! We are not discussing this anymore, I'm going to sleep!"

With that she rolled over angrilly and allowed silence to fill the room as he lay there frustrated with the situation.

The next morning when they all met at the SUV's, the tension between Hotch and Emily was still obvious. Thankfully they were both professional enough to be able to carry on with their work and not let it seep into their jobs.

The Deputy spoke to the team and explained that there had been another murder last night. Hotch volunteered himself and Morgan to go over to the crime scene and meet with one of the officers to see what information they could gather. The rest of the team would stay behind and work on what they already knew.

A couple of hours had passed as the team worked away, waiting to hear from Hotch and Morgan with any new information. An officer rushed into the station and grabbed the attention of the Deputy. He pulled him to one side and held a whispered conversation, all the while the officer talked, the Deputy's eyes grew wider in panic.

The Deputy stepped up to where the team were working, cleared his throat and said, "Agent Rossi, can I speak with you please?"

Rossi got up warily, noticing the look of horror on the Deputy's face. He followed him through to an office and watched as the Deputy shut the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Rossi asked, looking intently at the Deputy.

He cleared his throat and looked down at the floor, "One of your agent's has been shot. We're not sure which one or how seriously. All we know is, the unsub returned to the crime scene - why we don't know - but he shot one of your guys. He's been taken to the hospital." He let out a breath and put his hand on Rossi's arm, "I thought it best to tell you privately, especially due to the delicate condition of a certain female agent."

"Damn it!" was all Rossi could say as he stared out of the window towards Emily, wondering how he should break it to her that her husband had possibly been shot.

**A/N: Sorry, I'm being cruel again leaving it there! If you were expecting the entire story to be fluffy, I do apologise but it clearly won't be. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please let me know what you think! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging last time...Well, kind of! He he. Thank you for the reviews, glad you're enjoying the story. Not right away, but there will be other 'issues' that come up in this story, it's not all gonna be plain sailing. So if you are after a completely worry free story, I'm afraid you won't get it here. Life in the real world is almost never worry free, so I wanna make it realistic. That being said it's still gonna be a nice story, just thought I'd best pre-warn you there will be a couple of moments. On the whole it's gonna be very nice though :) **

**Anyway, I'm done babbling...Enjoy!**

Emily, JJ and Reid continued to work, oblivious to the situation currently being brought to Rossi's attention. JJ was just rounded off a telephone conversation with Garcia, while Emily and Reid narrowed down their list of suspects. As Reid rattled off a list of reasons it couldn't be at least three of those on their list, Emily twisted in her chair letting out sighs of frustration with each turn.

Hanging up the phone, JJ looked at Emily with concern, "Em, you ok?"

Emily let out an exagerated huff and looked up to the ceiling, "These chairs are ridiculously uncomfortable! No matter how I sit, I get...Ugh! This is stupid!" She stood abruptly and said with hands raised in the air, "I give up!"

Reid decided to add something to the conversation, "Emily..."

He was interuppted by the flustered brunette, who said with a roll of the eyes, "Reid, if you're gonna spout some fact about the actual reason I'm not comfortable at the moment, please don't! I know - from experience - that my second child is currently growing and pressing on a variety of organs. So I realise - thank you - that the chances of me being comfortable right now, are slim to none!"

Reid looked at Emily warily before he said, "I was only going to suggest you try sitting on the couch over there." He said with an outstretched finger, pointing towards a couch covered in files and boxes.

As she eyed the couch Emily rolled her lips inward and raised her eyebrows and said sheepishly, "Reid I apologise! And thank you!" With a flick of her head she added "Baby's just making Mommy a little cranky today!"

JJ didn't manage to supress the laugh that escaped her lips. Emily looked at the blonde and said with a hint of humour, "I don't why you're laughing Jareau, you're helping me move these files!"

When all the files were moved and Emily sank into the couch, she sighed contentedly and said with closed eyes, "Spencer Reid, don't _ever_ let _anybody_ underestimate you! You are a genius in every sense of the word!"

After a quick smug smile, Reid said, "Actually there is only one sense of the word gen..." He noticed Emily raise her eyebrows at him so he back pedalled, "You know I'm just gonna quit while I'm ahead."

Emily closed her eyes again and said "Smart boy!"

JJ broke the silence and looked toward Emily who was resting a hand protectively on her bump. "Have you felt it move yet Em?"

"No, not yet. Shouldn't be long now though." She gazed fondly at the growing mound as she smoothed a hand over it and said, "We have our second scan in a couple weeks so we should find out what we're having. I'd love a boy, but I think Aaron would like a girl."

"I bet you'll both be happy whatever you have, right?"

"Oh of course! As long as it's...Ooh!" Emily's other hand flew to her stomach and the look of shock changed into a huge grin. "It moved! Wow, I'd forgotten how amazing that feels!"

JJ stood and walked over to sit on the couch next to Emily, "May I?" she asked as she went to place a hand next to her friend's.

"Sure!" Emily replied, still grinning, "I don't know if you'll feel anything though, might be just me that's able to feel it for now."

Just then the door opened and Rossi walked into the room. JJ looked up and said with a smile, "Hey Dave, Em just felt the baby move."

Dave smiled slightly and said, "JJ, can I speak to you for a sec?"

Seeing the look on Dave's face, JJ didn't ask anymore questions, she just got up and followed him out of the room, leaving Reid and Emily to wonder what was going on.

Once they were in the Deputy's office with the door closed, Rossi sat on the edge of the desk. He let out a breath and said, "We have a problem."

JJ looked at him and knew something was very wrong, "Dave, what is it?"

"The unsub returned to the crime scene...Jen, one of the guys has been shot."

JJ brought a hand up to cover her mouth that was currently hanging open, "Do we know who?"

"It's either Morgan or Hotch."

JJ sank down into the seat and said, "Do we know how serious?"

"No. All we know is it's either Hotch or Morgan and they've been taken to hospital." Dave looked down at his hands and said, "I wanted your opinion on what we should tell Emily."

JJ threw her head back and looked towards the ceiling. "Is there any way of finding out more first?"

"We've tried their cell's and their both off, we've tried the hospital and we can't get any information from them. I'm gonna see if I can go down to the hospital and find out. Do you think we should tell her?"

JJ looked at the floor hoping to find the answer in the bad carpet, "I think we should wait until we know more first." She screwed her eyes shut and said in frustration, "But then if it's serious we should tell her straight away. I don't know what to do!"

After a moment of silent thought between the two of them, Dave said decisively, "We should tell her. She's going to find out eventually and she'll wished she'd have known sooner."

JJ nodded, "You're right. Want me to tell her?"

"I think that would be best."

JJ had broken the news as gently as she could. Emily had immediately broken down and insisted on accompanying Dave to the hospital. JJ had also gone along to make sure Emily was ok. As Dave rounded the corner with lights and sirens blaring, the hospital came into view. Emily sobs continued to fill the SUV.

They all shot out of the vehicle and ran (Emily with great difficulty, but even more determination) towards the main entrance. Once inside Dave took the lead in asking the receptionist for information, while JJ wrapped her arms around Emily as the brunette sobbed into her shoulder.

A familiar voice sounded off to their right. "Emily!" She looked towards the source of the voice and ran once again down the corridor, collapsing into Hotch's arms and sobbing against his chest.

"I thought I'd lost you!" she cried as she clung to him with everything she had.

"Oh Sweetheart I'm sorry." he murmurred against the top of her head as he gripped her tightly.

The realisation that it was Derek who was hurt hit Emily, "Morgan...is he ok?"

Hotch stroked comforting circles up her back and said, "He's gonna be fine! The bullet caught his shoulder, they've removed it but he'll be in a lot of pain for a while."

Emily sank back against him. Hotch gestured toward a bench and said, "Come on let's sit you down."

Once the couple were sat on the bench (all the time Emily not letting go of Hotch), JJ and Dave followed the nurse down the corridor to go check on Morgan.

Hotch pulled back to look Emily in the eyes and asked gently, "Do you wanna go see him?"

She shook her head and dropped it once again on his chest and said, "If you don't mind I just wanna sit here with you for a little longer."

He rested his chin on top of her head and said "I don't mind at all Sweetheart!"

They sat there for a while longer just holding one another. Emily broke the silence, "Hey guess what!" she said excitedly.

Hotch chuckled at how much Lilly was just like her mother, "What?"

"The baby moved today!"

Hotch reached out a hand and placed it lovingly on the bump. He said in a very disappointed voice, "I missed it!"

"Oh Sweetie, I don't think you'd have been able to feel it anyway. I think it was only just enough for me to notice."

A smile crossed Hotch's face and he said, "Still, I would have liked to have been there when it happened."

Emily placed her hand on top of his and said, "Well it's definitely not going to be the last time it happens. I'm sure you'll be there next...Ooh!" Her face lit up with a smile, "Junior has amazing timing!"

Hotch beamed as he asked, "It moved again?"

Emily nodded as she moved his hand to the spot where the baby was fluttering about. Even though he couldn't feel it, Hotch felt much better knowing he was there. They sat for a while longer, just enjoying the fact that they were all safe.

**A/N: Sorry if that was cruel leaving it that long until you find out what happened. Hopefully I made up for it the fact that I updated quickly, oh and you got a nice ending to the chapter.**

**Please let me know what you think! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

**A/N: Glad you lot are enjoying the story! I must apologise though...It was brought to my attention by a reviewer that Emily would have had clothes to wear after having Lilly. This reviewer made a very good point and I am sorry for this discrepancy. It just hadn't occurred to me at all having never been in that situation myself! **

**I very much appreciate the honesty of this reviewer, and I'm also glad that despite this you're still enjoying the story. That's exactly what the review button is for...honest opinions. Any way, on with the story...**

The local police department had caught the unsub. They were able to match the description Hotch gave with their suspect list. This meant the team were free to fly back to Virginia.

Emily hadn't left Hotch's side since they'd been re-united at the hospital. Now on the jet, Hotch and Emily shared a couch, Aaron leaning against the arm with his arms around Emily, who was slouched against him. She looked up fondly at him, placed a hand on his cheek and said, "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Morgan piped up from the chair just infront of them. Gesturing to the sling that held his left arm he said through a smile, "Hey! _Actual_ injured man here! How come he gets all the compassion?"

Emily smirked slightly as she answered, "Derek, I know you can handle pain." She then dropped her voice to a not-so-subtle whisper, "Hotch would be whining _endlessly_!"

Morgan smiled and lay his head back on the chair as he closed his eyes. Emily watched her dark friend with narrowed eyes and said quietly to Hotch, "Do you think Derek's ok? I know he acts all macho, but he got shot! Do you think he's alright?"

Hotch kissed the top of Emily's head and pulled her against him tighter, "I'm sure he's fine Em. Besides, when we get back to Quantico, he's gonna have to put up with Garcia asking him constantly whether he's ok. I think he's enjoying some peace while it lasts." As Hotch finished his sentence he looked towards his wife who was rubbing circles on her belly. "Baby moving again?"

Emily looked up and realised she was being watched by her husband, "No, I'm just aching a little. It's been a long day!"

"We land soon. See if you can nap in the car on the way home."

Emily tried to stifle a yawn unsucessfully, "I think I will."

Emily had managed to drop off to sleep briefly in the car after they'd picked the children up from Jessica's. She was always glad to get the children back, although tonight she was exhausted.

After dinner was eaten and all cleared away, Lilly and Jack were playing loudly in the living room. Emily winced as Lilly squealed in excitement at the game they were playing. "Hey Lil, can you keep it down please? Mommy has a headache." she asked her daughter.

Hotch stood from his position next to Emily on the couch and said, "I think little girl could do with a bath anyway. Come on Lil, bathtime." After she realised whining was getting her nowhere, Lilly followed her father to the family bathroom.

Emily closed her eyes and put her head back against the cushion of the couch. Jack came and sat next to her, lifting her arm so that he could cuddle up to her. Emily opened her eyes and smiled fondly at Jack, "Hey sweet boy, you ok?"

Jack smiled widely at his stepmother and nodded, "Uh-huh!"

After a while of sitting quietly on the couch together, Emily said softly, "Hey guess what Jack?"

"What?"

"The baby moved for the first time today!"

The little boy's eyes went wide in wonderment, "Really?"

"Yeah, really. You won't be able to feel it yet, but it won't be long until you do."

Jack's eyes were fixed on Emily's belly as he said, "I remember when we could feel Lilly kicking inside you. It felt funny!"

"It does doesn't it!" Emily kissed Jack on the head and they both continued to sit cuddled up on the couch. They could both hear Lilly singing at the top of her voice from the bathroom. Emily loved having the chance to bond with the young boy. She really did feel as if he were her own.

Emily's hand flew to her stomach as she gasped and squeezed her eyes shut. Jack looked up at her face and said excitedly, "Did it move again?"

"No." Emily breathed in and out slowly, eyes still closed and hand rubbing circles on her belly. "Jack, go get your dad! Quickly!"

The little boy ran urgently towards the bathroom, where his father was just wrapping Lilly in a towel after her bath. "Daddy, come quick!"

Seeing the look of panic in Jack's face, Hotch ran out of the room to see Emily with her head hiding behind her hand, crying, and her other hand pressed against her belly. Hotch crouched down to try and gain eye contact. He placed his hand over hers and asked softly, "Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

Emily shook her head and said shakily, "Something's wrong! It hurts!" She threw her head back against the sofa and cried out, "Agh, Something's wrong!"

Hotch tried his hardest not to convey the panic he felt. "Ok Em, we'll get you checked out ok? Try not to panic Sweetheart!"

Lilly came wandering into the living room and realised something was not right. She saw her mother crying and said through her own tears, "Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy?"

Turning to the 4 year old, but still clinging to his wife's hand, he answered, "I don't know Sweetheart. But can you do Daddy a favour like a big girl? Can you ring Aunt Jessica and ask her to take you and Jack to her house?" Lilly nodded as she ran off to do as her father asked.

Hotch then turned to Jack, "Jack, can you run across the hall and ask Mrs Grady to come sit with you and Lil until Aunt Jess gets here?" As Jack left the apartment, Hotch turned to Emily again and stroked her hand, "Em, can you get up Sweetie?" She nodded while still sobbing quietly. Hotch helped her stand and moved her slowly to the door. She grasped the doorframe and let out a gasp as she was overcome with a new surge of pain.

Just as Jack was returning with their neighbour, Hotch was guiding a crying, wincing Emily along the hallway. A very concerned Jan Grady called after the couple, "All the best!"

In the car, Hotch drove as fast as he could while trying his best to keep Emily calm. His heart was racing and he was trying with everything he had to keep it together for the sake of his wife. He clutched her hand as he drove, while she continued to cry and hold her other hand to her belly.

At the hospital, they waited for the doctor to come and examine Emily. Her sobs had quietened, however she remained upset. She said with tears in her eyes as she looked down at her hands, "Aaron, I can't lose this baby! I don't know what I'd do!"

Hotch took her hand in his and said through his own tears, "Em, I wish I could promise you that everything will be ok, I really do! But one thing I _can_ promise you..." he brought his hand up to her face and wiped her tears away before fresh ones fell again, "...Is I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere! Sweetheart, I love you and I always will. Whatever this is, we'll get through it together."

She was about to speak when the doctor arrived ready to examine Emily. True to his word, Hotch never left Emily's side, despite some resistance from one of the nurses. The doctor smiled reassuringly and said gently, "Ok Emily, it seems the baby is responding to your stress levels. We need you to relax as much as possible. I know it's hard, and you're scared, but you should start to feel better soon. Has the pain eased at all?"

Emily nodded, unable to form words after crying so hard. The doctor smiled, "That's good."

Emily found her voice again, "Is the baby ok?"

"That's what we're going to find out. You've had no bleeding, which is a good sign. But we'll get an ultrasound just to be sure." She put the machine in position and explained, "We want to hear the heartbeat first of all, that will tell us straight away whether or not we need to worry."

As the doctor placed the reader on Emily's belly, a strong whoosh, similar to what they'd heard at the first sonogram, echoed around the room. As the doctor listened, she furrowed her brow slightly and said, "There's a _very_ slight irregularity," and then she emphasised, "But it's a good strong heartbeat. You have a few months left, so it could right itself by the time the baby is born. It's nothing to worry about, it's quite common."

Seeing Emily still looked worried, Hotch rubbed his thumb gently along Emily's hand that was currently in his and said, "Jack's heartbeat was irregular right up until the end." He allowed a smile of relief to creep across his face, "Em, the baby is ok!"

Emily still looked hesitant although she nodded. "Is that right? The baby is definitely ok?"

The doctor smiled, "It seems so! Sounds like you've had a stressful day with Daddy scareing you like that. The baby is bound to feel any stress you feel. Let's take a look just to be sure."

As the doctor placed the wand on Emily's mound of a belly, Emily took her husband's hand and flashed him a nervous smile. Hotch returned the smile and clutched Emily's hand while he looked into her eyes, trying his best to convey that everything was going to be ok.

During this exchange between Hotch and Emily, the doctor had been squinting at the screen to make sure what she was seeing was right. "Huh, looks like I was wrong." she mumbled to herself with a small smile, half forgetting she had a nervous audience.

Hotch sat up tensely, "What do mean 'wrong'? Is the baby ok?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you!" she laughed, "Guys your baby is absolutely fine! It turns out I was wrong about the heartbeat."

Hotch smiled at Emily, both clearly relieved. "The heartbeat's normal? It's ok?"

The doctor nodded, "It isn't one irregular heartbeat, it's two perfectly normal heartbeats not quite in sync with one another."

Emily and Aaron both looked at the doctor and then eachother with disbelieving faces. As she turned the screen to face the couple she said, "Guys, congratulations. You're having twins! Two very healthy babies."

The couple stared at the screen unable to form words. They were both thrilled beyond belief that everything was ok. Tonight they feared they might be losing the baby, but the reality now was that their joy had doubled.

The doctor once again broke the silence, "Would you like to know what you're having?"

Emily turned to Aaron, this time with tears of joy in her eyes, "I'd like to find out. What do you think?" Hotch nodded in reply, still stunned at the news they'd just received.

The doctor pointed to the screen, at the baby who was foremost in the picture, "This one right here is your little boy. And let's just see if we can see what baby number two is..." she moved the wand around to get a better look. After a while of trying she said, "I'm sorry, it seems Baby number two is a little shy. I can't get a good angle, sorry."

"That's ok!" Emily said through a chuckle as fresh tears formed, "We're going away with a lot more than we bargained for anyway."

The car ride home had been unbelievably different in atmosphere from the journey to the hospital. Both Hotch and Emily wore huge grins, knowing that – not only was their baby safe – but their _babies _were safe and healthy.

As they made their way into the unusually quiet apartment, they continued to smile, in awe of the news they'd received. The day had been exhausting, so they made their way straight to bed.

As they lay there in the dark, both content in each other's arms, Hotch broke the silence, "We'd better start thinking of names! We need two names now...four if you include middle names!"

"I know...Wow!" Emily pulled Hotch's arms around and placed both of his hands on her belly, "Aaron, can you believe, tonight was I think _the _most scarey experience of my life, and now we're lying here knowing that safely tucked away in there are our babies...twins! And we're having a boy!"

Hotch closed in for a tender kiss, "It's amazing! Thank you!" A thoughtful look crossed Hotch's face as he leaned over to look at the clock. A smile broke out on his face as he spotted the time. This confused Emily, "What?"

Seeing it was a little after quarter past midnight, Hotch said as he carressed his wife "Happy anniversary!"

**A/N: Well I think that is one of my fave chapters. Well done to all of you who guessed it was twins! I did put a few little hints in previous chapters, such as how big Emily was for how far along she was. Sorry if I stressed anyone out with the panic trip to the hospital. As I said before, real life doesn't always run smoothly.**

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

**A/N: Thank you all soooo much for the reviews! Really glad you're all enjoying it! Hopefully I can keep it up and you lot will enjoy the rest of the story!**

Emily had enjoyed an extremely restful sleep. She stretched awake and rolled onto her other side to greet her husband, only to find he was no longer sharing the bed with her. She looked sleepily around the room to find that he was nowhere to be seen. The light shone brightly through the drawn curtains, something she was not used to waking up to. Usually when she woke it was still dark outside. She checked the clock on the bedside table which said a little after 10.15 am. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and checked the clock again, which was indeed correct.

She sat up, the bottom half of her body still under the covers. As she pulled the covers back and swung her legs round to the side, she felt the light fluttering inside her belly. She sat on the edge of the bed with her feet on the floor, just enjoying the feeling of the little ones moving around slightly inside of her. A smile spread across her face as she smoothed a hand over her belly and spoke to her unborn children, "Hey in there! You scared us last night. Mommy and Daddy are so glad you're ok! We can't wait to meet you both." Just as she was talking she felt a firm kick that made her jump. Her hand flew to the spot where one of the twins had just kicked. Her smile grew as she whispered quietly, "Hey, can you do that again?" She waited a while but they didn't oblige.

She made her way into the living room, to find Hotch on the sofa with a cup of coffee. "Hey sleeping beauty!" he greeted with a smirk, "You sleep ok?"

A smile spread across her tired face, "Amazingly! Although these days I could always do with more." She sat next to him and he pulled her into his side and laid a kiss on top of her head. "Did you sleep ok?" she asked.

"Not so good." he said through a smile, "Couldn't switch my mind off!" He moved a hand down to her belly and smiled even wider, "I still can't believe it...twins! The kids are gonna be so excited!"

Emily smiled as her hand joined his, "I know! We really need to get thinking of names. At least we know one of them's a boy, we can concentrate on that first."

"Yeah. Well...a few did come to mind last night while I couldn't sleep."

Emily looked up at him and raised a questioning eyebrow, "Yeah? So what do you have so far?"

Hotch smirked and said "Don't laugh ok? I was thinking..." he was interrupted by a gasp as Emily grabbed his hand and placed it further over to the right. He sat up straighter as a smile spread across his face when he felt the kick under his hand. Emily looked up at him, her eyes wide and said, "You feel that?"

Hotch nodded in response. When he found his words again he said, "That's amazing! Never gets old does it?"

"No. But I think junior interrupted you, what were you saying? About the names?"

"Oh yeah. Well I was thinking how about Craig?"

Emily wrinkled her nose and said "Not so keen, sorry! How about Dylan?"

Hotch shook his head, "There was a kid that used to pick on Jack called Dylan." Hotch smiled, "What about Jude?"

Emily looked thoughtfully towards the ceiling and muttered, "Jude Hotchner? Hmm, that's a possible. Any more?"

"Well - now don't go crazy when you hear this - but how about for a girl...Penny?"

Emily's smile widened as she gasped and said, "Oh I _love_ it! You do know Garcia will be the one going crazy if we end up having a girl and call her Penny?" Emily's brow furrowed as she said, "Hold on! Jude? Penny?.." she rolled her eyes, "...What were you thinking for her middle name, Laine?"

Hotch chuckled, "Weren't sure you'd pick up on that. Joking aside, they are cute names though, don't you think?"

Emily chuckled as she leaned into him, "Yeah. I don't think we could call one Penny and one Jude though, I don't really want to have Beatles themed kids names. I think we could have one or the other. Any more suggestions?"

Hotch opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything Emily sat up straight and said in excitement, "Ooh! Are we doing presents yet?"

Hotch laughed at the child-like excitement of his wife, "Em, calm down Honey. I'm afraid I can't give you my present until later, so if you wanna open presents together we're gonna have to wait. Sorry."

"Seriously?" she whined like a child. "Oh Aaron, the one time we're actually at home for our anniversary and you make me wait for my present?"

"It's not ready yet." he cracked a smile and muttered against her head, "It's got to be just right for my darling wife!"

"Ok, now you're creeping!" she said with a hint of humour. "I'm sorry, it's just I got all excited about exchanging gifts in peace, rather than having to break up arguments and fix boo-boos in between."

"I promise, when it comes to exchanging gifts, we will have complete peace. I've already arranged it."

Emily looked up at him with soft eyes and said, "You are the greatest! I love you _so_ much."

"I love you _so _muchtoo! Wow it's nice to say that without having a 4 year old chuckling as if we're misbehaving." Hotch laughed.

"I know" Emily said with a smile. "Shall we ring Jessica to arrange when we can pick the kids up?"

"Actually she rang just before you got up. She offered to keep the kids with her today so we can have a day to ourselves."

"Oh, that's really sweet of her! What did you say?"

"I said I'd pick them up this afternoon. I know you've missed them, and they've been worrying about you and the baby, so I think it might be best if we have them with us. What do you think?"

"I think you know me very well! I have missed them...a lot."

"Jess said Lilly kept waking up last night and Jack wouldn't settle since they were worried. I'm so glad I text her last night just to let her know everything was ok! Once the kids knew you were fine they went down ok then."

Emily started stroking a hand gently against her belly, "I guess we really scared you all last night, huh?"

Hotch squeezed Emily's shoulder and kissed her head, "Sweetheart, I don't know how I didn't lose it completely. I was _terrified!_...But...you're safe and healthy, the babies are safe and healthy...That's what matters!"

"I guess last night got me thinking...What you said before, about me taking it a bit easier?...Well I was thinking of maybe cutting down on my work hours, at least until the babies come. What do you think?"

A soft smile crept across Hotch's face. He was careful not to sound too smug as he said, "I think that's a great idea! It will cut out a big chunk of stress and you can relax some more."

Emily sighed heavily, "You know what else will cut out a chunk of stress? Finding somewhere to live! We're gonna have four kids in a matter of months and we have no room for everyone. I don't think that's helping my stress levels either!"

Hotch pulled her closer and said, "Please don't worry about that Sweetheart! Just try and use today to relax completely ok? It's our anniversary. No more talk about houses ok?"

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises!"

"Good enough for me! Now, what can I get you for breakfast? I snook out and bought a few things while you were sleeping."

Emily sat up and grinned, "Oh you wonderful man!" She licked her lips and rubbed her belly slowly as she said, "I actually do really fancy something specific, but I don't know if we have the stuff."

"Tell me what it is and I'll see if I can oblige." he said with a cheeky smirk.

"I _really_ fancy pancakes with banana, and strawberries, with a big dollop of chocolate sauce." she said looking at him hopefully.

Hotch winced and watched Emily's face drop. He sighed and said, "It's a good job I know you so well! I remembered how much you enjoyed that last time, so that's pretty much exactly what I bought."

Emily's face lit up like a child's, and she closed in for a kiss, "Aaron Hotchner, what would I do without you?"

When Hotch pulled the car into Jessica's driveway, Lilly was already in the window looking out for her parents. The dark haired little girl beamed as she spotted their car and waved enthusiastically to her mom and dad. As Hotch and Emily got out of the car, they could hear Lilly's shouts from inside, "They're here! They're here!"

Hotch put his arm around Emily's waist as they walked up the driveway. As they watched the door open, he turned to his wife and whispered, "Brace yourself!"

Lilly flew past Jessica in the doorway, and bounded towards her mother, "Mommy!" The little girl wrapped her arms firmly around her mom's legs and clung on for dear life. When Lilly allowed her to, Emily crouched down and put her arms out for a hug from her daughter. The little girl was only too happy to comply. "Are you ok Mommy? You scared me!"

Emily pushed Lilly's hair out of her face and said gently, "I'm sorry Sweetheart. But Mommy's ok!"

"And the baby too?"

"And the baby!" Emily responded with a smile. Lilly's smile grew on hearing that everyone was ok, and wrapped her arms once again around her mother. Still hugging the 4 year old, Emily said, "Hey Lil, how about we go inside Sweetie? We can have more cuddles then ok?"

Lilly nodded enthusiastically and loosened her grip on her mother, waiting as Emily stood up straight again to hold her hand so they could walk inside. As if he could have missed her previous announcement, Lilly shouted, "Jack-Jack, they're here!"

Emily smiled apologetically towards Jessica and said as she moved towards her for a hug, "Thank you so much Jess! We really would have been lost without you. Thank you!"

"Anytime! You've helped me out plenty too." As they moved into the kitchen Jessica asked, "So Aaron said everything's ok?"

Emily looked towards her husband, who was currently on the receiving end of one of Lilly's hugs, and replied, "Yeah, everything's fine! Aaron gave us a scare yesterday and I kind of freaked out. The baby was just responding to my stress."

Just then, Jack entered the room and ran towards Emily, reaching his arms out as he hugged her gently. She returned the hug and said, "Hey Buddy, you ok?" He nodded and said, "I made this for you." He handed her a card with a drawing on the front of a dark haired lady and a dark haired little boy hugging. In big letters across the top it said: 'I love you Mommy!' Emily teared up as she opened it and read Jack's words.

Lilly piped up and said, "I wrote my name on it too..." she pointed to the bottom of the page, "...See?"

"I can see that! Thank you!" Emily placed a kiss on Jack's head and said, "Thank you Buddy, it's lovely!" She looked over to Hotch and said, "Shall we erm...tell them about our scan now that they're all together?"

Hotch beamed as he took out his wallet which held their second scan picture. He bent down so that both children could see. Lilly frowned in confusion at the picture, "Why does the baby have two heads?" She was now very familiar with what resembled what on the grainy picture, as she often stared at the original scan picture, trying to figure out who the baby looked like.

Jessica smiled as she realised what the answer was to Lilly's question, "Oh wow! That's lovely news!" she said as she embraced Emily.

Lilly stood, still looking confused, "What?"

Hotch picked Lilly up and sat with her on his lap, "Lil, the baby doesn't have two heads...There are two babies in Mommy's tummy! They're twins."

Lilly gasped in excitement, "Two babies? Wow! Where did you get the other one from, the hospital?"

Emily laughed, "No Lil. They've both been in there all along. We just didn't know it was two, we thought it was only one." Emily was glad when Lilly didn't question it any further, she just took the explanation and continued to stare at the picture.

Jack came and sat next to Emily on the couch. He lay his head gently on her belly and put his hand next to his head. Emily stroked his hair as his eyes closed. "Somebody's tired. Shall we get them back home Aaron?"

Hotch stood, picking Lilly up, "Yeah, come on. Let's leave Aunt Jessica in peace!"

There were hugs all round as the Hotchner family got ready to leave. Just as they were about to walk out the door Jessica said, "Ooh, I almost forgot!" She picked up an envelope from the hall table and handed it to Emily, "Happy Anniversary."

"Thank you Jess!" Emily said as she hugged her again.

As the family drove away, Jessica waved from the door. Once they were out of sight of the house, Emily turned to check on the children. Both were already fast asleep in their seats. Emily sighed as she turned back towards the front of the car. She placed one hand on her belly and the other on Hotch's arm and gave it a squeeze, "I have a wonderful life!"

**A/N: I was going to do the anniversary presents in this chapter but it ended up being longer than I intended. Turned out better than I thought. What do you lot think?**


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